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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22658677">No one really Knows me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bumblebee1220/pseuds/bumblebee1220'>bumblebee1220</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The X-Files</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 15:07:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>33,317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22658677</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bumblebee1220/pseuds/bumblebee1220</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Does anyone really know Alex? What makes him tick and how did he get to where he is now?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1: Where it all Started</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 1: Where it all Started<br/>“I sit here and I wonder, how did I get here? I’m sixty years old. How did I even live that long? I should have been dead years ago but yet here I am. I honestly don’t know if I deserve to be here. I’ve done some horrible things but I wasn’t always bad. I wasn’t.”<br/>“I know you weren’t. You aren’t a bad person.”<br/>“Bet you didn’t know I had a brother and a sister.”<br/>“I didn’t. I’ve known you for a very long time and you never talk about your past. Tell me about it. Please.”<br/>“You sure you want to know the story of one Alex Krycek?”<br/>“As I just said, please tell me. Nothing you tell me is going to change how I feel about you. I love you no matter what. Now, please tell me.”<br/>“Get comfy. It’s going to be a long tough ride.”</p><p>My parents were Cold War Immigrants. They were born and raised in Russia. They loved it there. They married in St. Petersburg. They weren’t rich but weren’t poor either. My mother got pregnant with my bother shortly after they married. Seeing how things were, they decided to leave Russia and move to the United States. My brother Mikhail was born not long after they arrived here.<br/>When he was three, my mother got pregnant with my sister. When Natalia was born, my parents were thrilled. They had one of each. I know it’s weird that I know this but I’ve heard enough stories to know it’s true. They lived in a two bedroom apartment in New York. Things seemed good for them. Father had a good job. It was the sixty’s. Mikhail was seven and Natalia was four when I came into the picture.<br/>I was the baby. I also was an accident. I was told many times by my brother that no one wanted me. One would think that the baby of the family would get loads of attention but that was not the case. Little Alexei was alone. My parents focused on my siblings more then me. No one paid a damn bit of attention to me. I was left to my own devices.<br/>I wasn’t a bad kid. I didn’t get into trouble much. When I was six, Mikhail and I were in the backyard and he decided it would be cool to hit his younger brother with a piece of tree from the yard. I had cuts all over me. I got in trouble for bleeding on my mother’s towels. He got off without any punishment. It was always that way.<br/>I was a pretty good student. Mostly B”s graced my report cards. Natalia was a horrible student. She never did homework or studied but she was praised for being the pretty girl, the middle child and the only girl. I studied my ass off to get those grades but no one praised me not even the teachers. It wasn’t right.<br/>Mikhail moved out at seventeen after fighting with my parents about curfew. My father spent more time at work then home. He refused to deal with what happened. My mother shut off from the world. That left my sister in charge but she was too busy having a life. I guess you can say, in a way I understand where Mulder came from. Neither of us had warm cozy parents that loved us. I have my doubts regarding my parents. I do believe my parents knew how to love. They loved each other and my siblings just not me.<br/>Natalia graduated and moved away shortly after with a man she loved. My parents didn’t approve but she was a free spirit and did whatever she wanted. Natalia did what she thought was best for her. I’m like that in a lot of ways. Having no one that cared about you tends to make you act that way. I couldn’t wait to get out on my own.<br/>I started working as a bag boy when I was fourteen. I hated it but it got me out of the house so I didn’t have to deal with what was happening there. My folks weren’t on the best of terms after my sister took off. They fought a lot, mainly because their children left them. They still had me but the golden ones were gone. I worked as much as I could even on holidays which pissed my mother off.<br/>Despite everything, my mother loved the holidays. Christmas was her favorite. We all dressed our best for mass on Christmas Eve. Yes, Alexei went to mass. Christmas morning, we’d all gather at the table and have breakfast before heading to open presents. We didn’t have a ton but we had enough. One year, we all got new bikes. Our stockings always were filled with treats and candy. Dinner was the big deal. The last Christmas we were all together was the best. My mother made a goose with apples, roasted potatoes and carrots. We always had pirogi and kalachi. Dessert was a feast as well. Berries, biscuits, angel wings and we drank kompot. It was the best day. I loved Christmas. I stopped enjoying it years and years ago. I only enjoy it now because of you, Nikolai, Amaliya and Kira. I’ve gotten some of that back.<br/>The next few years went by quickly. I saved all the money I could so I could get out of there. I needed to. I couldn’t handle it anymore. The tension had gotten pretty bad. Without even telling my parents, I started looking for colleges away from New York. Maryland in Virginia were looking good to me. I applied to Virginia State University and Bowie State University in Maryland. I got into both so I had to make a choice. I decided to go to VSU. I liked it better. I only told my parents after I decided to go there. My father didn’t seem to care but my mother cried. Deep down I think my mother did love me more then she showed.<br/>The next thing I needed to do was find a place to live. I figured I’d live in the dorms but then I’d need a place after the school year ended anyway. So, that was that. I needed an apartment and a cheap one. Things were looking up when I found out my grandmother, that passed years before had set up a trust of sorts for when I turned eighteen. That was the money I needed to get on with my life.<br/>I graduated high school in June. By mid-July, I was packing up and moving to Virginia. I found a small, cheap one bedroom apartment not that far from campus. I had my run down piece of shit car but it drove me to work and classes. College was when I decided to go by Alex and not Alexei. It was a fresh start for me.<br/>The first month I was there was crazy. I moved in and got a job. I worked at a little law firm a few blocks from the apartment. I just typed up notes and letters. It sucked worse then bagging groceries but it gave me some pocket money and got me in the door of what I hoped to do one day. I did all the new student crap. It was pretty boring but I had to do it. I had no idea what the hell I wanted to major in or what I wanted to do with my life. I figured basic classes would be a good start.<br/>In my public speaking class, there was this girl. She was this mystery to me. I hadn’t really dated much in high school. No one really showed any interest in me. I had gone out a few times with this one girl but that was it. But, this girl in class was something else. We quickly became friends. I never had many but she didn’t seem to care about my past. A few weeks after classes started, we began dating.<br/>We dated the whole first semester. After the Christmas break, we picked up where we left off. She was my first. I really loved her. That Easter, I brought her home to meet my family. My brother and sister weren’t coming but I was. During my time away, my mother reached out and we began to get close. I really loved my mother.<br/>To my surprise, they liked Sara. My mother pulled out all the stops to impress her. She lined the dinner table with kulich, kulebiaka, horseradish and beets, lamb, potatoes, carrots and eggs. Dessert wasn’t much better. We had pashka and a few other cakes and candies. I only remember it for two reasons; neither of them happy ones. About a month after, my mother called. My father died in an accident at work. I went home for the funeral but was soon back in classes. Sara thought I needed to grieve more but I disagreed. We broke up not long after.<br/>I spent the next year or so focusing on my classes. I found myself interested in of all things law and crime. I wasn’t smart enough for law school but I figured I could do something like transporting criminals or transcribing stuff. I studied like hell. I was damn good at it too.<br/>I was just entering my junior year when I got a call from my sister that I hadn’t heard or seen in years. My mother was sick. She was dying. I took a few days off and drove home. We weren’t really close but she was my mother and I loved her despite it all. Mom passed away that fall. Everything was packed up and stored. I took a few items but that was it. I went right back to classes. I was alone in the world. Yet again. I handled it before and I would do it again.<br/>The end of my junior year was a turning point for me. I was walking the street when I saw a sign for something that was going to change my life. On a billboard, was a recruitment for the FBI. The FBI. Did I really want to try for that? Did I want to apply? Would they even accept me? Why would they? I was nothing special. I was just Alex Krycek.<br/>After some careful thinking and some vodka, I decided to go get an application and apply to Quantico. I wanted to do something with my life. Now, I still had a year left of college but my goal was to get in once I graduated. I had no other plan for my life so if this didn’t work, I was stuck as a glorified secretary. I filled out the application, wrote the entrance letter they make you write. I studied my ass off to get my grades even higher. I needed a future.<br/>My senior year flew by. Exams were a bitch. I hadn’t heard from my siblings since my mother died. I didn’t need them. I didn’t need anyone or so I thought. I told myself I was better off alone but the truth was, I wanted someone to want me. I never had that but I heard enough about it to know it was something I missed out on having my whole life. Maybe it was too late but I had to hope it wasn’t.<br/>A few weeks before graduation, I received a letter from Quantico. They wanted to meet with me and go over my application. Well, they were either going to kick me to the curb or accept me to the academy. Either way, I was scared shitless and that is not something that happens to Alex Krycek. I went out and bought a black suit. I had to look good and if not I had a suit for graduation, not that anyone was going to be there to see me anyway.<br/>The day of my interview, I was shaking. I hardly slept the night before. I was nervous as hell. I was a bit early but ready as I was ever going to be. I sat there and waited. Before long, I was greeted by an administrator and taken into his office.<br/>“Mr. Krycek, I’ll get right to the point. I’ve looked over your application and your transcripts. Those are good.”<br/>“Good, Sir?”<br/>“Yes, they are by far not the greatest but not the worst. I do like that you have taken some Criminology courses and work at the law firm. Those would be helpful if you were accepted.”<br/>“Thank you, Sir. I find it fascinating.”<br/>“Why the FBI? Why not join the police department?”<br/>“I have to be honest, sir. As I said in my letter, I’m first generation here. My parents left Russia for a better life. I don’t want their move to be for nothing. I’m the only one of my siblings to have attended college. I want to make something out of myself. I want to help people. This is my chance to do that. This is hard to admit but the FBI I a family and I want to be a part of that family. I wasn’t close with my family and I don’t have a family. I want to be apart of a family. I want to belong.”<br/>The admissions guy just sat there for a moment before speaking.<br/>“Mr. Krycek, I applaud your honesty. I like honest. From what I see here, I’d like to offer you the chance to show us what you’ve got. It won’t be easy but I think you’ve got what it takes.”<br/>“Thank you, Sir. I really appreciate it. Thank you for this opportunity.”<br/>I graduated college a few weeks later. No one was there. My parents were gone and my siblings didn’t care enough. I was the first Krycek to get a college diploma. I did it and with no one’s help but mine.<br/>I swore that day, if I ever had a family of my own, I would support them in anyway I could. I’d love them and be there for them when they succeeded or failed. I just hope that Nikolai, Amaliya and Kira know that.<br/>“They do. We all know how much you love us.”<br/>Thank you. So after graduation, I packed up my apartment and moved about two hours away to be closer to the academy. I found another place rather quickly which was nice. I enjoyed the summer by preparing for what was to come. I started running at the local park and did a summer program at a gym to build myself up before I started the training program. I knew it would change my life but I had no idea it would turn out like it did.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2: The Training</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I was beyond excited to start my training. I knew the eight hundred hours of training was going to be grueling but I was ready. I wanted to know everything I could. I was determined to be the best I could. They believed in giving me a chance where no one else ever had and I was not going to let them down.<br/>	I had never been exposed to weapons before. We were not a gun family. My mother was deathly afraid of them and refused to let us near one. She’s probably rolling over in her grave right now knowing what her little Alexei could do and has done with a gun. Sorry mom. They pack a lot of information in that twenty-eight session training. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it. I remember one of the first classes where they were teaching us safety. I was trying soo hard not to shake as I was holding that SIG-Sauer P228. I was pretty good at it once I got over the fears I had. One would never guess that Alex Krycek had a small fear of guns. <br/>	The physical training was the worst. Not worst, hardest. They ran us through the rigor on that. Even after training and such was done for the day, I was working out. We had to do sit-ups and well I sucked at first but every day I did planks, bird dogs and hip lifts to build up the strength I needed to do them. <br/>	The 300-meter sprint wasn’t bad. I enjoyed running. I just did the stretches and some hip drives, arm drives and leg cranks to build up the muscles. I was pretty good at running which came in handy all the times I had to run for my life. I wasn’t as good as Nikolai but I could run. Like I said that skill paid off.<br/>	“Yes, but now you are using that skill to help Nikolai with his cross-country training.”<br/>	I am and it will come in handy when I have to chase the boys away from my girls.<br/>	“Now, Alexei, the girls will be fine. We are raising them well and must trust their judgement.”<br/>	I know but I know what kind of men are out there and I don’t want them near my daughters.<br/>	“I understand.”<br/>	Good. Push-ups came pretty easy to me as well but I still trained my ass off. I did the core development training. It really helped. It didn’t take me long to be comfortable enough that I knew I could do what was needed. The last thing was a 1.5 mile run. Once again, not a big deal. I wanted to be the best I could be. I trained like before. Those were four were needed to pass the physical requirements. Of course there was more which I did. Pull-ups I hated. Guess now it doesn’t matter with only one arm. We ran the course and did hand to hand. Yet another skill that would come in handy for me down the road. You needed a minimum score of twelve to pass physical. I ended up with a fourteen. I was very happy with myself.<br/>	The class work was what really drew me in. I loved law and ethics. During ethics, we toured the Holocaust Museum. I was fascinated by what I saw. It was the first time I really saw what pure evil could do and looked like. I never imagined at that point I would be a part of something soo evil. I never wanted that. <br/>	“You didn’t know that Alexei. No one did. Continue. Please.”<br/>	Interviewing and writing reports was alright. I understood the basics. I just wasn’t very good with it. Guess I wasn’t a people person. Not a fan of the forensic stuff. I could handle certain things but not everything. I was a weakling at that point. That obviously changed over the years. Once we started behavioral science, I was once again very intrigued. That was where I first learned of Fox Mulder. He really is a great profiler. We heard all about him helping to catch Monty Props. He was a golden boy except for his belief in the paranormal. We heard all about Spooky Mulder. Others made fun of him but not me. I admired him.<br/>	Mulder was in a way what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a shining star to them. I dug up whatever I could on Mulder and found out he was kind of a loner. We had that in common. I had no real friends there. Went out once or twice for a drink with a few guys but that was it. I hadn’t had a girlfriend since Sara either. I got acquainted with myself very well.<br/>	Anyway, I excelled at the operational skills. I loved the boxing. We did handcuffing and disarming drills. The surveillance training was interesting. I liked the idea of hiding in plain sight watching someone. I guess that’s why I was good at it as well as learning how to be undercover. I spent years hiding and watching from the shadows. Acting out real life cases was really a great way to learn. Hands on is always better. Helps get the nerves out but nothing prepares you for the real thing. I managed to work well with a few people as I had learned I needed to play well with others. I wanted these guys to have my back in the field. I needed to start trusting them. Slowly we became like family. <br/>	By the time graduation rolled around, I was ready to get out there. I wasn’t the one to speak at graduation, luckily. I hate public speaking. I’m good with a small group but not a huge crowd. I had my fingers crossed that I would receive something for my firearms skills. I was one of the best in our class. Much to my surprise, I did. I was soo proud of that damn thing. Only award I ever won too. Graduation day was hard. Like college I had no one there cheering me on as I received my credentials. I swear, I will be there to watch my children graduate. I will not miss a milestone in my children’s lives.<br/>	“I know you won’t. You’ll be the loudest proudest one there.”<br/>	Most likely. I picked up my badge, gun and ammo before heading out to the celebration. We didn’t have our assignments yet. They were coming. Part of me wanted to stay where I was. I was happy there but I had nothing to hold onto. I’d go wherever they wanted me to.<br/>	A week later, I got my assignment. I was to report to the Hoover Building. I was set to change the world. I was to meet Section Chief Blevins when I arrived. I wasn’t ready for what was to come.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I did research for the FBI. I did take creative freedom with this so it may not be true to what happens.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3: It’s Starts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Armed with only my badge and Sig, I went to the Hoover. I thought meeting Blevins was just going to be a quick meeting; here’s where you go. That type of thing. I figured I was going to be in the bullpen doing nothing buy background checks but I was wrong. Not completely wrong but wrong.<br/>	I met with him and was assigned to going through surveillance and security videos. Not the most exciting job but I was in so it didn’t matter to me. He informed me that if I did well, in a few weeks or so there was someone he wanted me to meet. <br/>	“The Smoking Man?”<br/>	Yeah. I did as I was told and did the best I could. True to his word, a few weeks later I was called in again. Blevins started giving me real cases to work. The Smoker wasn’t there that day. This went on for a few months. It was all I did. I’d get up, shower, eat, dress and head to work. I had no friends, no distractions. That’s not to say that I didn’t work well with other agents. I did. <br/>	“When did you finally meet him?”<br/>	About six months after I started, I met him in Blevins’ office. I wasn’t sure what was going on. I had no clue who he was or what the hell he wanted with me. I later came to understand he wanted me because I was green, a man with nothing to hold him in one place and he could mold me into whatever he wanted.<br/>	“What did he want from you?”<br/>	He wanted me to get close to Mulder. He wanted him under control. Apparently, he was getting too close for them. To what, I wasn’t told yet. I was handed a file on Mulder and Scully. I still wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with this. Over the next few weeks, I continued to meet with the bastard. Each time, he gave me more information. I was informed that the X-Files were closed and that my time would be coming soon. <br/>	My last meeting with him, he laid it all out for me. He wanted to break Mulder, make him stop searching for the truth, for his sister.<br/>	“You knew about his sister?”<br/>	Yeah. It was in the file they gave me. It just said his sister was missing. I managed to get a look at the case file Mulder opened up on it. He had no idea how close to the truth he was on that. These men didn’t want him to discover the truth and plan. My job was to make sure of that. I was to be their eyes and ears since putting Scully in there didn’t work.<br/>	“Scully was part of it?”<br/>	Not really. She was assigned by Blevins to debunk his work; to spy on him. They never imagined he’d begin to trust her, confide in her and work with her to find the truth. They never expected that. Mulder trusted no one but himself but yet he trusted her and had to trust me. That was not going to be easy. I just had to play it smooth and calm. <br/>	“When did you finally meet Mulder?”<br/>	I was at there about a year before I was given the chance. It was my first real case. I’d worked cases before but this was a murder case and my chance to prove myself to them. I was worried about what would happen if I didn’t do what they wanted.<br/>	“Did you know what they would do to you?”<br/>	At that point, no. I thought maybe some shit assignment or transfer to some no man’s town somewhere. I just wanted to do a good job; have someone give me some praise for busting my ass.<br/>	“What case was it?”<br/>	Augustus Cole. It started out with Dr. Grissom being found murdered. I opened the case into the mysterious circumstances. I got called into Skinner’s office after Mulder put in the request. Skinner had no choice but to give me the case. I opened it two hours before he did. Someone tipped him off or something. I didn’t know.<br/>	I met Mulder transcribing wire taps. He looked miserable. I handed him the file and he was none too pleased that I was the agent of record. Mulder tried to take the case and run with it but I wasn’t letting him get away that easily. This was my chance, give them what they want and move up the latter.<br/>	“Is that what they told you? Help them, help your career?”<br/>	I thought that’s what they would do. I was working under Blevins. Anyway, Mulder had me go get a car while he finished up but he bailed. I figured out he was at the sleep center where our victim worked. When I got there, he had a cab waiting which I paid. Mulder was pissed when he saw me there. I told him that I didn’t like ‘being ditched like someone’s bad date.’ <br/>	“How’d he take that?”<br/>	He wasn’t happy. He looked stunned that I even said anything to him. I knew I was a green agent but I wasn’t taking his shit. I told him that we heard all about him in the academy. Some people, most made fun of him but I admired him and followed his work because I believed in what he was doing and that there was more out there then just us. That got him a little bit.<br/>	“Stroked his ego.”<br/>	Of course. A man like Fox Mulder needed that every so often especially with the Files being closed and separated from Scully. She called him with the autopsy on our vic so I got to tag along. I felt like a third wheel in that room. Scully hated me from the moment I walked into her autopsy bay. <br/>	When we saw the body, I almost puked. What a wuss. I never could stand the sight of dead bodies. They talked to each other like I wasn’t even there. Those two were in their own world. Scully was on to something as she always was. I knew my job was to watch Mulder but this case did get to me. I wanted to solve it, stop the killings. <br/>	I dressed the part of a put together agent and I was. They even gave me contacts I could use as buddies in different areas of law enforcement. It was all to make Mulder believe me. He did too which was more then most people in my life. The case was taking us to New York. I hadn’t been back there since my mother’s funeral but I couldn’t think about that. I needed to focus. <br/>	At one point, I actually got Mulder to tell me his wild theory about what was going on. He really is out there but right. The man has a way to figure everything out. It’s crazy. It’s scary how good he really is. <br/>	He actually scared me at one point. He started waving his gun around shouting. He actually went down. He was fine physically but mentally, I wasn’t soo sure. He was like that again when we were face to face with our suspect; Augustus Cole. Honey, I swear that he had a gun pointed at Mulder. He was going to kill him.<br/>	“Why not let him? Wasn’t the goal to in a way get Mulder out of the way?”<br/>	It was but he was to live. I had no orders to let harm come to him. I was just to watch and observe Mulder not let him get hurt. That whole time I had my gun pointed at Cole, I was hoping he’d just drop the gun but he didn’t. I didn’t want to shoot him. I didn’t want to kill him.<br/>	“I know, my love. I know. Was that the first time?”<br/>	That I shot someone? Yeah. I was in shock. I didn’t want to believe that I killed someone even if the guy was a killer. He had a bible in his hands not a gun. Mulder backed me up in a way. He wrote it up that I believed I saw a gun and what Cole could do. No one was going to come after me but I didn’t know that just yet. I’ve never told anyone this before but I cried that night in the shower. I was soo pissed and upset by what I had done.<br/>	I didn’t have much time to cope with what I had done. I was due to meet him. I had to give my first report. I stole the secret files Mulder somehow got ahold of. I didn’t know who gave it to him and I said as much. I also broke into Scully’s office and stole her notes, report and her copy of the files. I handed them over. I had to call him sir. Just saying that makes me want to puke. <br/>	“Did you know who he really was? What he was capable of doing?”<br/>	Not a clue. I knew he was up to something since we didn’t meet at work but his place of business at the time that is. I just told him what I thought of Mulder. <br/>	“Which was?”<br/>	That he was a good agent but a pain in the ass. He was a loner who only trusted Scully. I was warned about Agent Scully. They told me to see what I got from them. Being separated only made their bond stronger and more determined to the search of the truth. ‘Scully is a problem, a much larger problem then you described.’ That bastard didn’t even flinch. His response was soo cold something that was just him.<br/>	“Oh don’t I know it. What was his response?”<br/>	Basically that could be changed. He was plotting something to do to her or against her. I didn’t know what but then again, I wasn’t paid to know. I didn’t know much. They trusted me because I was a loner with good aim. This was the beginning of the end of life as I knew it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4: The Abduction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a few weeks, maybe two before I got a message that Agent Mulder was needed for a hostage situation. I had to find him first. He wasn’t in the bullpen or doing his transcribing. I had been watching him for a while now.<br/>	“How long did they have you watching him?”<br/>	Since they told me my job was to cozy up with him. I didn’t exactly like the idea of doing it. It was one thing to watch a skell but a good FBI agent was something else. I wasn’t comfortable with the idea but I had an order. <br/>	I found him down at the FBI pool. He was swimming laps. I got his attention and that fucking ass comes out of the pool wearing a red fucking speedo. Who the hell wears that? Anyway, I informed him he was requested to help with this situation. He wasn’t sure why they wanted him and frankly I didn’t either until I was told the facts.<br/>	“Why did they want Agent Mulder?”<br/>	The guy, Duane Barry claimed to be an alien abductee. He said they had taken him multiple times and that he had implants in his body because of it. I guess they figured who better to talk to a spook then Spooky himself?<br/>	“Was it the aliens or the Smoking Man?”<br/>	I don’t know who got him first. I assume it was the two working together. We get to the travel agency and met the negotiators. They gave him the low down on how to talk this guy down of a cliff. If anyone could do it, it was Mulder. He really was good at it. he kept calm.<br/>	“Wait, why did Barry take hostages anyway?”<br/>	He was in an institution and he took the doc treating him. He stole the guard’s gun. Guy was seriously crazy. He said he was hearing voices, that they were coming for him again. Barry was taking the doc to where he wasn’t sure where so they’d take the doc and not him. Mulder really believed the guy.<br/>	I figured things would be easy. Mulder would deal with this, we’d go back to work and things would continue. Problem was, Barry knew the drill. He was former FBI. The norm wasn’t going to work with this guy. Mulder wanted details but none were forthcoming so he called Scully. <br/>	“How did you know he called her?”<br/>	Well, she’s the only one he would call and the face she called back. I was sent for coffee. They used me as some damn errand boy but he had to call her then. I was out when the shit hit the fan. Mulder traded himself for a wounded hostage. Barry shot one of the hostages when the power went out. There was a huge flash of light. God, it was soon bright. He panicked thinking it was them.<br/>	“What was it?”<br/>	The official cause was an explosion at an electrical substation. I have my doubts though. Scully called with info for Mulder but he was already inside. I’m surprised she talked to me at all. She wasn’t my biggest fan. There was nothing I could do for her. I wasn’t in charge, hell I’m lucky they let me listen in at all. It was like I wasn’t even there. Kind of felt like old times. Mulder kept the guy talking though. I’ll give him that, he was damn good at his job. Probably helped that he believed the guy.<br/>	Scully showed up out of nowhere demanding someone listen to her. No one would. They figured she was just another mouth trying to take their case. Truth be told, if she was there, she had info. She’d protect and help him no matter what. I got them to listen to her. Despite what she thought, I liked her. <br/>	“Did she have information to help Agent Mulder?”<br/>	She somehow got his records. He was shot in the head during a drug bust gone band. Permanent brain damage causing him to be a liar and a bunch of other things. Mulder was going to need that information. She got into his ear and told him what she knew. Mulder talked the guy down more and got him to release the two female hostages. Tactical was setting up to take their shot. If Mulder had just let them take the kill shot, this whole mess would have been over with but no he had Barry move. Damn him.<br/>	Mulder had to make sure that Duane was what Scully said he was and not the alien abductee he thought he was. Whatever went on, Mulder got him in sight and they took the shot but it didn’t kill him. While the docs were treating him, they found implants in his sinus cavity, belly button, damage to his teeth from drills. I saw the medical report and X-rays. Those marks on his teeth were not done by the dentist at the local office. I only saw a picture of the implant but it was something I had never seen before. I was intrigued for sure.<br/>	“You had never seen the implants before?”<br/>	No, I was still new to them. It’s funny really. When they told me my job was to watch Mulder, I was looking forward to it. I mean the guy is a legend in the academy. I really was eager to learn from him and grow as an agent. Never did get that chance though I did learn from him. <br/>	After the whole thing, I had a meeting with the bastard. I told him what I knew. He asked about the implant; where it was. I had no idea. It wasn’t in the evidence I saw. He knew Mulder had it. That’s when he started getting concerned. I found out what that piece of metal really was at that point.<br/>	“Tacking device.”<br/>	Yeah. Apparently, the doctors put them in these abductees to keep track of them. Each one had some sort of code on it. The work was soo detailed and tiny. The implants aren’t that big. Without it, they couldn’t track Barry but they could track whoever had it. It ended up at the lab with Scully. Mulder must’ve given it to her. They weren’t even working together officially anymore but yet they were. <br/>	Anyway, he now knew it was only a matter of time before Mulder knew the truth. That bastard wanted the problem taken care of and for the work to continue. We got word that Duane Barry had escaped the hospital. He hit the guard over the head with a blunt object and somehow made his way to Scully’s apartment. I don’t know who old him but I didn’t. I was still stuck with the smoker. <br/>	I wanted out. I was done. It wasn’t worth it anymore. I was living on edge of Mulder finding out. <br/>	“But you didn’t leave. Why?”<br/>	Natalia.<br/>	“Your sister? What does she have to do with Duane Barry and the Smoking Man?”<br/>	He knew about her and where she was. I never told anyone about her or my brother. I hadn’t seen them since my mother died. It was in my file but I had no idea where they were or how to get in touch with them if I had to. They weren’t even listed as my emergency contact. I put a neighbor. <br/>	“Alexei, what did he do?”<br/>	He didn’t do anything. He threatened to. It seems she got herself pregnant by the guy she was with. It wasn’t a stable relationship but it was her life. He had his goons watching her and made it clear that one way or another, he would get what he wanted. I couldn’t let them take my sister and her child. It’s true we weren’t close at all but that didn’t mean I didn’t love her. He was going to kidnap her and take her baby away. If I cooperated with him and my assignments, he’d leave her alone. He’d protect her in a way. What choice did I really have?<br/>	“Would he have taken her?”<br/>	I don’t know. I couldn’t risk it. She was my sister. I had to deal with him. I had to. That’s one thing Mulder never knew. I understood what it was like to lose family even if we weren’t close.<br/>	“What happened?”<br/>	Scully was taken from her home by Barry. Mulder heard the whole thing on his answering machine. She was telling him about the code on the implant she had. Mulder was at the crime scene, saw the damage done. Her home was supposed to be safe. It shouldn’t have happened. I was still fighting it then. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. My assignment was to keep an eye on Mulder, see what he knew and report back. That bastard was at the briefing with Skinner after she was taken from her home. I had to sit their while he watched on to make sure I didn’t blow it.<br/>	“If he wasn’t there, would you have told them the truth?”<br/>	Honesty I don’t know. I didn’t want Scully hurt but I had to think of Natalia as well. I might have given more away. All I told them was Barry believed he was being controlled by aliens and that they were coming to take him again. Mulder’s the one that threw the implant out there as a way he knew where Scully was. It was either that or someone told him. I looked over at the smoker with just my eyes and started to wonder what he was really up to. I was ordered to take Mulder home not that he was going to listen.<br/>	I found him later that day in the bullpen listening to the recordings of the hostage situation. He was looking for clues to where he took Scully. In the meantime, Barry shot a cop on a highway in Virginia. Mulder was starting to piece things together, that meant I had a job to do.<br/>	“Which was?”<br/>	To inform him where Mulder thought Barry had taken Scully. See that stretch of road connected with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Barry kept mumbling about ascending to the stars.<br/>	“Skyland Mountain.”<br/>	Bingo. Of course, Mulder didn’t want anyone to know where we were going, including Skinner. He was determined to be her knight in shining armor. I called the cancer man while waiting for him at the car and informed him. Orders were to not let Mulder get to the top of the mountain. I told him that I would hold him off until they located her. Easier said then done with a man on a mission. He almost got us killed driving there. He was falling asleep at the wheel.<br/>	When get there and the tram operator told us Barry was there and he sent him to the mountain via the back road. The tram was down for the summer. Mulder, flashes his gun and gets him to run the tram. That dumb ass locked me out of it. he insisted on doing it himself. Just what I didn’t need at the moment. How was I going to do my job if I wasn’t with him? I was going to have to get smart and creative.<br/>	Mulder did not want that tram to stop for anything until he was at the top. Part of me was saying let him do it. Let Mulder get to the top of the mountain. Barry had a good head start on us so it was possible he could get to the top before Mulder did. The other part said just follow your damn orders Alex and shut up. You know they’ll hurt your sister if you don’t. <br/>	“You were torn.”<br/>	Yeah. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. I’m not that guy.<br/>	“I know my love. I know. You were in a horrible situation. You did what you could and had to do.”<br/>	I know. It still doesn’t make me feel any better about what I had to do. Mulder got really close to the top and I had to stop him. I hit the tram operator over the head with my gun and stopped the tram before phoning the bastard. I was to await his further instructions. Not that it would be easy. Mulder climbed out of the tram and on to the roof. He was going to climb his way to her. He was going to get himself killed. I don’t know why I did what I did but I did it.<br/>	“What did you do? You weren’t given new orders, were you?”<br/>	I wasn’t. I had to think quick. I hit the power button for the tram. It started moving, he almost fell off. I almost killed him and for what? He made it though but he was too late. He found Scully’s car empty. Barry and Scully were gone. A bright light and noises appeared. They were from an unmarked chopper. Barry appeared before that and Mulder had him but he freaked out with the lights and sounds. <br/>	“Ours?”<br/>	I think so. Search and rescue choppers did appear and find them on the mountain. They were brought to the Skyland Mountain office or lodge I guess it was. Barry was treated for some injury and was left with Mulder. He was going to get find out where Scully was of it killed him. I think that’s what the old man wanted at the time. After a few minutes Mulder came storming out of the room. He was losing it. he hadn’t slept since she was taken.<br/>	Barry must’ve said something because Mulder was on edge. He actually asked if I was alone out in the hall which I was. It was too dangerous for anyone to be there, I figured out. Mulder went to get some air or something. I went to go check on Barry. I had to know what he saw, what he was telling Mulder. Well. He gets back and is now pissed as hell that I was in there talking to Duane. He pulls me out of the room and starts lacing in to me about being in there. The guy was choking. What was I supposed to do? I had orders that no one but him was to go in there but him.<br/>	I didn’t have to do anything else because Skinner showed up and he was pissed. Mulder went against a direct order. Skinner was getting ready to tear him a new one when all hell broke loose. Barry died in front of us. Official cause was death due to lack of oxygen and a crushed something. I don’t really remember. Military took over and tox results were withheld.<br/>	“What aren’t you telling me about your time in that room with Duane Barry?”<br/>	He was given a little something to make him not a threat.<br/>	“Alexei?”<br/>	I didn’t know it was going to kill him. You think I enjoyed taken his life? That man was mentally unstable and was taken advantage of by higher powers for their own selfish reasons. <br/>	“I never said you enjoyed it or that you wanted it to happen. I’m just assuming you were following orders. No one what happened was your fault. That bastard is the reason everything happened. Not you.”<br/>	I know and I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m sorry. It just gets to me. <br/>	“I understand. It’s alright.”<br/>	When we were done at Skyland, we were sent back to D.C. I had a meeting to get to. He was in my car when I got down to the parking garage. He even smoked in it. I was trying to keep my cover. Having butts wasn’t going to help since I don’t smoke. I needed to give my report to Skinner about what happened at Skyland. I was told to confirm Mulder’s version of events. I’ll tell you that conversation with him scared me. It was truly the moment I knew I was done.<br/>	“You’ve earned his trust object now is to preserve it.”<br/>	“For how much longer?”<br/>	“Until your assignment is completed.”<br/>	“If Mulder is such a threat, why not eliminate him?”<br/>	“That’s not policy.”<br/>	“It’s not?  After what you had me do.”<br/>	“Kill Mulder and you risk turning one man’s religion into a crusade.”<br/>	“What about Scully?”<br/>	“We’ve taken care of that.”<br/>	“How?”<br/>	“We tell you only what you need to know.”<br/>	“I think I have a right to know.”<br/>	“You have no rights only orders to be carried out. You have a problem with that, we’ll make other arrangements.” <br/>	He just left the car after that. God, he scared me with that. First off, I had no clue what I had gotten myself into. Second, what the hell did they do to Scully and third, what would they do to me if I didn’t keep following orders?<br/>	I sat in the car composing myself for a while. I couldn’t go see Skinner as rattled as I was. I would’ve spilled my guts figuratively or literally. I needed to get it together first. I sat there for a good twenty minutes before I thought I was good to go. A quick stop in the bathroom to freshen up and I was good to start that report. <br/>	I gave it to Skinner and did what a good boy would do. I followed my orders. I knew at that moment, I could never go back. There would be no Agent Krycek anymore. My dream was over. After my meeting with Skinner, I went back to work. Had to keep up the cover. Mulder was called in for his meeting. I saw the old man go in before he got there. <br/>	“What would he do during these meetings?”<br/>	He would just sit on Skinner’s little couch or a chair in the corner of the room. He never spoke. He’d just give looks and smokes. I didn’t know at the time what Mulder said in the meeting. I found out later that he thought Barry was poisoned which of course he was. After the meeting, we were both to go take lie detector tests but Mulder wanted nothing to do with it. He took my car keys and took off.<br/>	“Where would he go?”<br/>	To get information about Scully. He had a source that was killed but rumors were he had another. He was also chummy with a senator. That’s not the worst. After I met with the old man, with all that I forgot about the cigarette butts in the car ashtray. Mulder had the car. I was screwed. <br/>	“What did you do?”<br/>	I contacted him. He wasn’t pleased but it was like he did it on purpose. It was part of his grand plan. He pulled me out of the office. Just like that. I had to disappear. I was told to leave my apartment and he gave me a place to stay. I was totally under his control. I had no other options. That night, I found out that Skinner reopened the X-Files. Things were going to get interesting now.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I borrowed some lines from Chris Carter and staff for this chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Now the fun Starts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After leaving everything behind, I was at the mercy of the Smoking Man. All my things were put into storage. I never saw a bill. I guess he paid for it. I really don’t know and frankly don’t care. I didn’t have much. I really only cared about my award from the academy and my diplomas. It was proof I did some good in my life. I know, you’re gonna say I’ve down good in my life.<br/>	“You are damn right, I’m going to say that. It’s the truth. Do you honestly think I would have married you if you weren’t a good person?”<br/>	No.<br/>	“Or have had three amazing children with you?”<br/>	No. I know what you’re saying. I just need to be reminded sometimes. It’s hard when I know all the bad I’ve done. It’s just hard. I didn’t even know where the storage unit was. It was all kept from me. I think it was a way to keep control over me. He was good at that. <br/>	He moved me into this complex. That is really the only way to call it. I wasn’t the only one there. I only saw Luis, and two others. I’m sure there were more. I always got stuck with Luis. Guy was an ass. He had such an attitude problem. He always thought he was better than everyone. Truth was, he was one of the worst. <br/>	I was there a few days without really doing anything. I just walked around the place. We each had our own room with a bed, kind of like dorm rooms. There was a bathroom down the hall from my room. It was odd. I hadn’t had to share a bathroom since I was growing up. The meals were placed by our doors three times a day for those first days. <br/>	I guess it was a week after the Barry case, he showed up. He walked around gave orders to the others before coming to see me. I just wanted to go home and have a life which I knew was pointless seeing the FBI had questions for me regarding Barry’s death and Scully’s abduction. He strolls into my room like nothing is wring. His life wasn’t destroyed; mine was.<br/>	“Good to see you again, Alex. You’re looking well.”<br/>	“For a guy who was forced to leave his home and a job he liked? Yeah, I guess you can say that.”<br/>	“No one could’ve known Mulder would take your car and grow unsure of you. You did well with him. You earned his trust much quicker than Agent Scully.”<br/>	“Cut the crap. You knew damn well Mulder would suspect the new guy. I was the last person to see Barry before he died. It was a no brainer. Mulder’s a smart guy. He was going to figure it out sooner or later and leaving your cigarette butts in my car was the icing on the cake. You wanted this all along. I want to know why?”<br/>	“My dear boy, you think you have it all figured out.”<br/>	“I’m not your boy. And yes, I do. You wanted Mulder to figure it out. I think you never were going to end my assignment.”<br/>	“Such a clever man you are. I do have plans for you. I watched you.”<br/>	“Watched me? Where?”<br/>	“You were a bright recruit. Focused.”<br/>	“You were watching me in the academy?”<br/>	“Of course. How else do you think ii found you? You were exactly what I was looking for. I made sure you were in D.C. That’s where I needed you.”<br/>	“Did you ever think of where I needed to be? Where I could do the most good as an Agent?”<br/>	“You were needed here Alex. End of story. Now, as I was saying you were a talented young man. You are. I took special interest in your firearms ability. Very good. You even won an award for that didn’t you?”<br/>	“So what if I did?”<br/>	“That means, I’ve got big plans for you. You will be brushing up on those skills over the next week or so. Then we will meet again. Is that clear?”<br/>	“I’m not agreeing to anything until I know what the hell is going on here. Where is Agent Scully?”<br/>	He told me Scully was with them. They had her. After some more pushing, he informed me she was part of the big plan. The greater good plan. I wasn’t told much just that. I assumed she was going to be home soon. I was wrong.<br/>	“Why did he tell you all that?”<br/>	Because he knew I wasn’t going anywhere. He had me by the short hairs because of my sister. I had no where to go even if I wanted to leave. He took my car too. I was his and he knew it.<br/>	About a week later, just like he said he was back. I had been working on my skills. Figured might as well. I had to show him what I could do. We all did, well there was maybe five or six of us I’d say. After, he came to my room and told me I’d be working with Luis as his partner when needed. I hate that guy. But anyway, I had no choice. If I did this crap maybe I could get the hell out of there.<br/>	“What did he want you to do?”<br/>	At first it was stupid things that I really can’t remember. I was kept local. I mainly watched buildings or picked up things with Luis. We had meetings with smoky or I did anyway. Little by little they trusted me more. I got more info nothing huge at the time though. Slowly I was working my way up. I got caught in the hype. <br/>	Scully was returned after three months. I should know.<br/>	“Alexei?”<br/>	I didn’t do anything to her. I was merely a guard in the transportation line. I saw her though, when they took her out of the car. She looked dead. They did a real number on her. Sick bastards. Anyway, she had a fighting chance at the hospital. Smoky had a feeling, Mulder had a new source. My next job was to find out who.<br/>	The guys that were sent to Mulder’s apartment while Scully was dying, found nothing. They were supposed to get to Mulder but he wasn’t there. I told them he’d be by her side. I was right. They just trashed his place. They started paying attention to me then. <br/>	After that, I was told more. I was giving more but still stuck with Luis. Mulder wasn’t a big problem with Scully gone. He was too focused on his own misery. <br/>	“How did you know that?”<br/>	The office was bugged and we had inside guys. I’m not sure who bugged it but I was told it was. I was also tasked with keeping an eye on him from a distance. It was more see what he does after work and meets kind of thing. It wasn’t bad except the man has no life. He went to work then home. <br/>	It did get interesting once Scully was returned. I couldn’t get too close due to security. I think one of our guys went to check the situation. Mulder got involved somehow and his source ended up taking care of the guy. Like I said, I don’t know much. <br/>	After Scully was back working, they traveled a lot. I did not follow. He had me staying close to him and home. I finally got a new place to live. It was a rat hole but it was a place to be me. Months passed and I was getting more involved. I was still dealing with Luis and his shit. I mostly drove him around at that point. I did get read in more on the main project; the deal with the aliens. I really didn’t believe it but I had nothing to disprove any of what they said. <br/>	For some reason, that old bastard was found of me. He always wanted me around him. I drove with him, he even watched me shoot. I thought at the time he wanted me to be his body guard but I was going to learn shortly that was not going to be the case.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Death</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sometime in April, things for the Group changed. I’ll give you some background that will make sense later. Keep in mind this happened within a few days. A good sized earthquake hit New Mexico. Now, that in itself means nothing but in the big picture it does.<br/>	That however, was not the worst part. What happened next is what set these events in motion. It was something that was never supposed to happen. If that smoking bastard did what he was supposed to do, this wouldn’t have happened.<br/>	You may have heard of a little thing called the MJ files. These are the original Department of Defense documents dating back to the 1940s regarding UFO’s and alien life. These were known about worldwide. These files were to have been destroyed but that didn’t happen. Some lonely hacker/ anarchist hacked into the DOD and gained access to these files. We knew he downloaded a good portion of the files. Dumb ass didn’t even hide who he was so finding him was going to be easy. <br/>	While this was all going on, Mulder was having his own little issues. I had orders to deposit a little something into his water system. The idea was to knock him off his game for a while. Apparently, he was digging around more on the side. He wanted answers to what they did to Scully. <br/>	“What was done to Mulder’s water?”<br/>	A device was added to one of the soft water tanks to his apartment building. There was a drug in it. It made him hostile. He wasn’t sleeping well. It caused some crazy behavior in him. He actually got into a fight with Skinner, like a physical fight. It was all because of that damn device. I wish I never did it. Some old woman who lived on his floor shot and killer her husband probably because of the water. There wasn’t a way to deliver it just to his apartment. <br/>	The files were in the hands of that weird guy who hacked in. Mulder was going to get ahold of those files one way or another. I had a feeling that those three stooges he calls friends, were going to be a part of that. Mulder, did go out and meet with the hacker. That’s when we assume Mulder got the infamous DAT tape. <br/>	Cancer man took a little trip to see Mulder. Not our Mulder but Bill Mulder; his father. Apparently, they knew each other from the State Department. Somehow, Bill got involved with the conspiracy. I followed him from a good distance he had no idea I was following him. Seems funny considering he knew I was trained for it. <br/>	Bill wasn’t thrilled to see him. No one really ever is. I saw them drinking and arguing. I couldn’t hear what they were arguing about but I could tell he was not happy with Bill. I split and got back to the base before he knew I was gone.<br/>	“Where was Bill? He wasn’t in D.C.”<br/>	West Tisbury. When he got back to D.C., he pulled me into a closed door meeting with just him. Those were not things I liked. This was to inform me that things were going to change for me.<br/>	“How so?”<br/>	I was informed about the files. The files were more then what I thought. The documents were encrypted in Navajo. <br/>	“Because so few people can translate it.”<br/>	Bingo. The documents contained information about tests. Tests that were performed on humans. Bill Mulder was a part of those tests. His name was in those files. Mulder didn’t know but they both knew he had the tape. Bill was pissed that they weren’t destroyed like they agreed on.<br/>	“Shocking. He didn’t keep up on an agreement.”<br/>	I know. Bill’s concern was Mulder finding out and we all know Mulder would. He’d find someone to translate the files and learn a horrible truth. Smoky told me what he told Bill.<br/>	“Wait, he actually told you about this private conversation? What did he say?”<br/>	That Mulder wouldn’t be hurt and he protected Mulder so far. Meantime, I’m drugging his water. If Mulder was to confront his father, he was to deny everything. It was there motto. <br/>	With their office bugged, I was able to keep tabs on the dynamic duo. We all knew he had the tape. Question was did Scully know. Didn’t take long to get that answer. As soon as Scully was in the office door, he was showing her what he had. I would’ve loved to have seen his face when he saw the encrypted files. He thought they were a joke. He was royally pissed. Scully and that brain of hers figured out that they were encrypted in Navajo.<br/>	She was going to find someone to break the code. She was always helping him no matter what dangers she could be in. This was the same day as the fight between Mulder and Skinner. He went home after that. He was taking time off or something. That night, Bill called him. He wanted to talk. I was already sent to West Tisbury to keep an eye on the other Mulder. I felt like a Mulder family babysitter. <br/>	Both Mulders had a little chat. They didn’t even know I was there. He warned Mulder that he was going to learn things about him that he wasn’t proud of. Everything was going to make sense when he heard them. Bill mentioned merchandise. That’s what they called the test subjects. I felt uncomfortable listening into this conversation. After a few minutes, Bill excused himself to take his meds. He didn’t know I was in the bathroom waiting for him. He didn’t even have a chance to stop me before I pulled the trigger. I jumped out the bathroom window before Mulder could even get to the bathroom.<br/>	I killed a man that was a far better man than that rat bastard I worked for. And for what reason? He wanted to tell his son the truth. He wanted to come clean about what he did. It was soo wrong. That bastard knew the cops would think Mulder killed him. He was the perfect suspect with his behavior. No one would’ve suspected anyone else. There was only one problem with that? It was my gun; my Sig P228 that killed Bill Mulder. If and when they ran that slug, they’d match it to my weapon. I was going to be a wanted murder of a former State Department employee and father to an FBI agent. I was going to have the whole damn FBI after me.<br/>	I didn’t even have time to process any of it though. I had to get back to D.C. One of our other guys too a shot at Mulder’s place. Dumb asses didn’t get the memo that Mulder wasn’t there. They almost killed Scully. <br/>	Mulder ended up at Scully’s place. He had to be. There was no way he would go home. She’d want to protect him and help him. He spent the night there. We got word that Bill’s body was taken to the morgue. I’m guessing Scully called it. I doubt Mulder was in any shape to do it himself. I got a glimpse of him in the house, he didn’t look good at all. <br/>	The next night, Scully went back to Mulder’s assumingly to get the bullet from the wall. I was there fixing the water. Well I was delivering more. I think that’s when she figured it out. I don’t know for sure. I was sneaking around outside trying to get out of there before I was caught by Scully. <br/>	I should have known, Mulder was going to end up home. He must’ve seen me lurking around the building. He got the drop on me. Beat the hell out of me, managed to get my gun away from me too. He is one tough son of a bitch. He was soo angry and he had every right to be. He knew that I was working with smoky when Scully was taken. He had to know that I killed his father.<br/>	He had every right to kick the shit out of me. He trusted me and I broke that trust. I hurt him. Those punches hurt like hell but yet felt good. I was getting what I deserved. I deserved every one of those punches.<br/>	Then he got my gun and turned it on me. I should’ve known he would get it. I don’t know why I didn’t try to get away. I guess it happened so fast that I didn’t have time to process it. He had me pinned down on something. I’m not sure what but the look in his eyes was pure and simple. He wanted to kill me.<br/>	“I’m going to kill you anyway Krycek, so you might as well tell me the truth. Did you kill my father? Did you kill him? Answer me, did you kill him?”<br/>	I didn’t get a chance to answer him. Scully showed up and they started arguing. I wanted to scream and admit what I’d done. Scully shot Mulder about a second before he was going to pull the trigger and end my life. I bolted out of there. Once I got to safety, I realized Scully saved my life. There was no doubt Mulder wouldn’t have killed me if she hadn’t shown up. Part of me wished she didn’t and that he did pull the trigger. I deserved it. I deserved to die for what I did to that poor tram operator, Barry, Scully and his father. I didn’t deserve to live.<br/>	“Alexei Igor Krycek, you stop that right this minute. You did not deserve to die. You hear me? I know you’ve done things you were not proud of or that you didn’t want to do. We both did but that does not mean you deserved to die or deserved that beating. Do you have any idea what your name means?”<br/>	My name? What does my name have to do with anything?<br/>	A lot. Alexei means defender of mankind in Greek. Before you say anything let me finish. The characteristics are strong and sweet. You are the strongest person I know. You have been through sooo much and yet here you are. Alexei, you are such a sweet man I hope you know that. As for Igor, which I know you don’t like, it means warrior and that my dear you are. <br/>	No, I’m not. I’m no defender of mankind or warrior. I’m just a….<br/>	“Come here. Let it out. I’ve got you. I know what you think you are but you are not. I know the real you. You are a loving and amazing father and husband. I wish you would see what I see in you.”<br/>	I don’t think…I’ll ever see that but thank you. <br/>	“Maybe so but I will be here every day to remind you.”<br/>	Promise?<br/>	“Promise.”<br/>	Ok. Ah, damn. You are the only person to get me to cry in front of them. You know that?<br/>	“It’s because you don’t have to hide or pretend with me. You can be you not Alex.”<br/>	Yeah, I can be. Now that you’ve made my cry like a damn kid, can I continue my story?<br/>	“Of course.”<br/>	Thank you. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, I just escaped with my life. I made sure to get as far away as I could before the cops showed up. I never heard anything so I’m guessing Scully got them out of there before they showed up. She’s a good shot, by the way. Once I was safely away, I called into the smoker. He didn’t seem too surprised Mulder was there or that he nearly killed me. He just told me to go back home and wait for instructions.<br/>	I was worried, well scared shitless really. They had my gun. Stupid me used my Sig P228. It was only a matter of time before they matched the slug from Bill to my gun. I got a little update about those files. Scully’s name was in there right after Barry’s. they actually put names in there. Now there was no way those two were going to stop not without an answer.<br/>	I was called back to the smoker’s. He wanted me to go with him to some heliport. You see Mulder and Scully were gone. We didn’t know where they were. They weren’t home or at work. I guess smoky got really worried that Bill told him something. I tried to tell him not to worry that I heard everything and nothing was said but you know him. So, we sat in his SUV at the heliport while he made a call. I could hear everything. Orders were to stay there while he took care of Mulder.<br/>	“You’re a hard man to reach.”<br/>	“Not hard enough apparently.”<br/>	“Where are you?”<br/>	“I’m at the Betty Ford Center. Where are you?”<br/>	“I need to talk to you Mr. Mulder in person. There are things to explain.”<br/>	“I’ll save the government the plane fair. I just need to know which government that is.”<br/>	“Your father may have told you things Mr. Mulder. I should warn you against taking them at face value.”<br/>	“Which things are those?”<br/>	“He was never an opponent of the project. In fact, he authorized it. That’s what he couldn’t live with.”<br/>	“No, he couldn’t live with it because you had him killed.”<br/>	“We weren’t involved with that.”<br/>	“Listen to me you black lunged son of a bitch. I’m going to expose you and your project. Your time is over.”<br/>	“Expose anything and you will only expose your father.”<br/>	Mulder hung up after that but we got his location. That was all he wanted anyway that and to rattle Mulder a bit. He took off in the chopper leaving me behind to monitor things.<br/>	“Where was Mulder?”<br/>	New Mexico. That earthquake I mentioned earlier unearthed something. There was a Sierra Pacific Railroad car number RTC-567490 buried in the soil. Inside that car was the evidence of some of those tests. The bodies were all humans that had been tested upon. I managed to get some info from Mulder’s bugged phone. He called Scully. He swore they weren’t human but alien until he saw the Smallpox vaccination scares on their arms. Things went silent after that. That’s when smoky got there. He had the military with him torch the train car destroying the evidence and killing Mulder.<br/>	The smoker and his guys beat the hell out of the kid and his family for helping Mulder. He knew Mulder was there and had the tape. These guys were ruthless. They bragged about it. He had a military chopper fund Scully’s car on the highway in New Mexico. They pulled her out of the car looking for the file. Once she said Mulder had the digital copy they left her alone. Everyone was under the impression Mulder was dead.<br/>	When Scully got back to DC, she was suspended. Her gun was taken, everything. They were getting what they wanted. With Mulder dead and Scully suspended, they were free to do whatever they wanted and no one would be able to stop them. <br/>	Back in New York, there was a meeting of the Syndicate. They were pissed that the MJ files were seen by anyone. They were never supposed to be seen and yet they were. He promised them that everything was taken care of and that the files were recovered. That was a lie. He didn’t have the tape. It was still somewhere either with Mulder, Scully or Skinner. He had no idea. He also informed the group that Mulder was dead and his body would never be found. He was soo sure of himself. Smokey took control of everything. <br/>	The hacker that started this whole mess, was found Murdered in New Jersey. He had just a small little write up in the paper, just like they wanted. It was meant to throw everything off or something. I don’t know. Sometimes the things they did made no sense at all.<br/>	The bodies in the train car were experimented victims that were trapped in there because of what they were. They couldn’t be seen by the public. To make sure that never happened, they were gassed and left for dead.<br/>	“My God.”<br/>	Yeah. Bill Mulder was ashamed of everything he had done in the past. That’s why he was killed. Smokey couldn’t depend on him not telling the truth. I killed a man because he regretted what he did in the past. How fucked up is that? <br/>	Anyway, Scully went to see Skinner about the death of the hacker. she picked up on the date being before Mulder’s. She had to go through the main entrance security. When she did, she set off the metal detector. After meeting with Skinner, she left the office. Smokey was listening in to their chat. Scully denied having the tape and that Mulder was dead. I don’t think he believed her.<br/>	Scully walked through the detector again, setting it off once again. The guard ran the wand over her neck and it went off. Of course, Scully had someone look at it and removed the piece of metal from her neck. Upon looking at it, she discovered it was a small round chip. It was the chip that was placed there during her abduction. <br/>	She had no idea but Scully was going to find out. Her only problem was she had no access to the labs. She took it home with her. Her place was wired so I heard her talking to her sister. At some point she left and I guess Skinner showed up because the smoker was there when Scully confronted him about it. He was like a snake hiding in the grass. Skinner denied it which was the motto of us all.<br/>	Scully went to Bill’s funeral and spoke with Mrs. Mulder. I was at a distance far enough to watch but not enough to hear much or be seen. She did meet with someone else though; the tall British guy. I moved in closer to hear more but wasn’t seen. They were walking and there were other people around so it was easy to hide. He knew things that I wasn’t yet aware of and he told Scully. He knew she didn’t have the tape and warned her that her life was in danger.<br/>	“They’ll send someone possible two men and kill you in your home or garage with an unregistered weapon which would be left at the scene. Using false documents supplied by associates of mine, they’ll be out of the country in less than two hours.”<br/>	There was another way that it could happen.<br/>	“He or she will be someone close to you, someone you trust. They’ll arrange a meeting or come to you unexpectedly.”<br/>	“Why kill her if they knew she didn’t have the file?”<br/>	Scully wanted justice and they didn’t. He didn’t want the publicity of a dead agent would bring. I think that guy actually used his head. I headed back home. I knew he’d be wanting me soon. <br/>	“Did you tell him what you heard?”<br/>	No. I liked the guy. If I told smoky, he’d take action and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. Not long after I got back, I was greeted by my old pal Luis. I hated that guy but we had an assignment to carry out. <br/>	“Agent Scully?”<br/>	Yeah. We were stationed about a block from her place. Dumb ass called her to see if she was home. What a rookie mistake. Well she was smart and left. Only she ran into Skinner outside and ended up leaving with him. While she was gone, we snuck into her apartment and hid in the dark. I don’t know how long we were there but we heard the front door unlock. We moved into position and as soon as we saw her, Luis pulled the trigger. We walked over and I lightly kicked the body to move her to see her face and it hit me.<br/>	“Oh, no. Damn.”<br/>	“What’s wrong?”<br/>	“Let’s get out of here.”<br/>	 I stepped over the body and Luis left the gun behind and followed me out. We had gloves on so there were no prints to worry about. Once we were in the car, I told him.<br/>	“What was that all about?”<br/>	“You didn’t shoot Scully. Well, you shot a Scully just not the one you were supposed to. You just shot her sister, Melissa.”<br/>	“Oh. Shit.”<br/>	He was such an ass. I wish I wasn’t with that guy. I would’ve made sure it was the right damn person first. It could’ve been her mother. I would’ve called in the shot. We just left her bleeding on the floor of Scully’s apartment with a head wound. I just hoped someone would call for help before it was too late. It killed me to walk away but I had no choice. If I called it in, I have no doubt that I would’ve been tortured or worse because of my actions. Instead I kept my mouth shut.<br/>	Found out that Scully and Skinner ended up at Mulder’s apartment. As did Mulder. He was alive. I heard on the wire that the three were arguing. Scully believed that Skinner was sent to kill her. The English guy got her spooked. Turns out, Skinner took the tape from Mulder’s desk. He wanted to know what was soo damn important about that tape. Mulder called it a “global conspiracy of silence”. He wasn’t wrong on that front but there were truths not on that tape. They were off to get that truth.<br/>	I had ears in the hospital where Melissa was. Luckily a neighbor called in the shot. She had a cranial gunshot wound. I only hoped they got to her in time and were able to help her.<br/>	It seems that Mulder and Scully were looking into things. They found out about Operation Paper Clip from their friends. It was a deal our government made with certain Nazi war criminals after the war. It was a safe haven for them in exchange for their scientific knowledge. Ultimately it was a deal with the devil.<br/>	Somehow, they ended up at Victor Klemper’s. He worked with our little crew. After they left, he called our gang in New York. He told them that Mulder was alive and digging around. That happened after smoky was getting an ear full due to our little screw up. Somehow it became our screw up not Luis’s. He fucked up not me. We were known as “your man.” I think they assumed it was me. I don’t really know. He promised everything would be rectified. The others were doubting him and his methods. <br/>	Mulder and Scully ended up in an abandoned old mine in rural West Virginia. The place held a lot of secrets. Inside was a long row of doors. All were locked with a key pad. Somehow, they got the code of 27828 and got in through one of the doors. They were rows upon rows of filing cabinets. In those cabinets were medical records.<br/>	“Medical records of who?”<br/>	From what I understand, abductees among others. Essentially the records were basic medical information with tissue samples. It was a record to ‘help’ identify people after a mass death situation. It was just their way of gathering the info and not causing panic or some shit. It was all a lie.<br/>	They were all alphabetical and by year. Scully’s file was there along with tissue samples. The files also contained vaccine records. It was how they kept track of everything. Mulder found Samantha’s file only he learned something he didn’t know. That file was meant to be his. Samantha was not supposed to be taken. I didn’t know why. They were found out and chased away by military.<br/>	In the meantime, Skinner met with our old pal. He wanted to make a deal with him. Skinner had the tape. Of course he wasn’t going to make a deal with Skinner. He was all nervous and shit because he knew Skinner had what he wanted. <br/>	After smoky left, Skinner met up with Mulder and Scully in Maryland. I really wish they knew or remembered that we were watching them and listening all the time. But, they don’t. Skinner told them he’d make a deal for their safety by giving them the tape and if smoky didn’t honor it, Skinner would turn State’s Evidence against them. Scully wanted the deal but of course Mulder didn’t. In the end, Scully told Skinner to make the deal. She needed to see her sister. Skinner went to the hospital to inform Mrs. Scully that he was working on bringing Scully back to be with her. He caught sight of one of our guys walking past the room. Skinner went after him. Luis and I jumped him in the stairwell. We beat the hell out of him and stole the tape from him.<br/>	The three of us, the guy from the hospital, Luis and myself were in the car heading back. We stopped at a D.C liquor store. They were acting odd but then again, they were not the best society had to offer. I didn’t want anything so I stayed in the car. I don’t know what it was, call it a gut feeling but something wasn’t right. I glanced at the clock and it was blinking twelve. I bolted out of the car. I only made it a few feet maybe ten or so before the car blew up.<br/>	They tried to kill me. that bastard wanted me dead. At first, I was just running on the rush of getting out alive. I was soo close to being blown to bits. Next, was the fear. Where was I going to go? If they wanted me dead, they’d find me. I was scared to death. I didn’t want to die. Last, was me being extremely pissed off. I wasn’t the one that botched that shooting. That was Luis. I followed my orders but yet that bastard wanted me dead. I wasn’t just pissed at him. I was pissed at myself too. I put myself in that situation. I let them reel me in to their web of lies and death. How could I let myself get into such a mess?<br/>	“Alexei, you had every right to be scared and pissed. How many times have I told you that you are not to blame for what happened?”<br/>	A lot but it still doesn’t take away the feelings I had and have. I killed his father and was there to kill her. My life was a lose lose situation. All I knew was that I needed to get someplace safe and figure out what the hell to do and where to go. I had nothing but the clothes on my back.<br/>	After a while, I decided to call our good old pal. I needed to get somethings off my chest. When he got on the phone and heard my voice, you could just tell how surprised he was. I would’ve loved to have seen his face when I told him I was alive. I had a feeling he wasn’t alone so he had to put up the front. <br/>	“What did you say?”<br/>	I called him a ‘double-crossing son of a bitch’. I wanted to be left alone. I told him that if I so much as felt his presence, I would make him a very famous man. He knew what I meant. He would not be famous for good reasons. I had too much information at that point for him to play. I hung up after that. I’m sure he was thrilled to be threatened by a low life fuck up assassin.<br/>	“You are not a low life fuck up. If you were, you wouldn’t be here right now telling me all this.”<br/>	Notice how you didn’t say I wasn’t an assassin.<br/>	“That I cannot say. You were paid for killing Barry, the tram operator and Bill Mulder.”<br/>	Don’t remind me. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish things were different. I know I can’t change the past but I wish I could.<br/>	Old smoky’s day was busy. That guy Victor Klemper died. It was a heart attack or so they say. I still had some connections. I know the British guy met Mulder and Scully at Klemper’s. He had an old photo of his father’s and was slowly realizing who the men in that photo were.<br/>	“In 1947 a space craft was reportedly recovered in New Mexico. No doubt you know of this and the reported recovery of a body at the site. These incidents coincide with not only with the end of World War II but an ignominious project which brought Nazi scientists and war criminals to this country to exploit their knowledge.”<br/>	“Operation Paper Clip.”<br/>	“Yes. You know of it already and you must know the work of Dr. Josef Mengele- the Nazi Angel of Death.”<br/>	“Mengele thought that he could produce a super race through genetic engineering.”<br/>	“As did many of his colleagues at the Institute of Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene.”<br/>	“Like Victor Klemper?”<br/>	“Poor Victor. He loved his orchids. Did you know he was able to create some of the most beautiful hybrids?”<br/>	“Klemper was trying to create an alien-human hybrid. That’s what I saw in the box car. He was using human test subjects.”<br/>	“Mulder, wait.”<br/>	“My father was involved in this?”<br/>	“The technology wasn’t there, Mulder. DNA wasn’t even identified until 1944. This is all a lie.”<br/>	“When your father realized what the medical data was being used for, he objected strenuously.”<br/>	“He collected those files?”<br/>	“With the threat of nuclear holocaust in the 1950s, the government instructed men like your father to gather genetic data on the general populace for the purpose of post-apocalyptic identification.”<br/>	“The vaccination records. They took tissue samples from everyone who received a Smallpox inoculation.”<br/>	“Hundreds of millions of Americans.”<br/>	“So, Victor Klemper had access to a DNA database of nearly everyone who was born since 1950.”<br/>	“Mulder, this man is telling you everything that you want to hear. But, it’s a fabrication. It is pure science fiction. There were no experiments with aliens.”<br/>	“Why would I lie to you?”<br/>	“Like you said before, to protect yourself and the continuation of the Nazi agenda- human tests.”<br/>	“Why was your file there, Scully?”<br/>	“I don’t know.”<br/>	“There were current records on file.”<br/>	“Yes, but records of what Mulder?!”<br/>	“Of abductions! Of abductees!”<br/>	-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>	“They took my sister. Why?”<br/>	“They took her as insurance because your father threatened to expose the project.”<br/>	“Why her? Why not me?”<br/>	“It’s not for me to say, but your life is in danger now, too. You also threaten to expose the project. You’ve become your father.”<br/>	“Why are you telling me this?”<br/>	“It’s what you want to know isn’t it?”<br/>	“Is there more?”<br/>	“More than you will ever know.”<br/>	Skinner met with the smoking man. He had something up his sleeve. He wanted Mulder and Scully safe and threatened to expose him if anything happened to them. He in turn brough in that Native American guy. He had translated some of the files and per his culture, he passed that on to several other Natives and so on. Needless to say, he was not happy with Skinner. I will say that Skinner had a set on him that day.<br/>	“Because he stood up to the smoking man?”<br/>	Well yeah. There was that but there was more. He told him ‘this is where you pucker up and kiss my ass.’ I gained some respect for him that day. I did learn though that Melissa Scully died from the gunshot wound. I took a moment for myself at that news.<br/>	“Where was the tape? You stole it from Skinner.”<br/>	I still had it. It was on me when the car blew up. I held all the power at that moment.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7: Traitor and Oil</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Time to meet the black oil</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So, they wanted me dead. I needed to lay low but how? I couldn’t go back to get my stuff. I had no clothes just what I had on. Luckily, I had some money in an untraceable account. So, I was on my own.<br/>	“You had no one to turn too?”<br/>	No. I had no friends. I wasn’t in the FBI long enough to make friends and even if I had, they wouldn’t help me. It was a well- known fact around the building that I was a double-agent. I doubt they knew who I worked for but I turned my back on them. I let an agent get kidnapped. I killed an agent’s father. I was a wanted man.<br/>	“Alexi, you did those things because you had to not because you wanted to. I wish I knew you then. I would’ve helped you.”<br/>	I know, moya lyubov’. I know. I was totally on my own.<br/>	“What about your brother or sister?”<br/>	Well, for starters they hated me. Mikhail was not in a good place. I heard through channels that he was down on his luck. Lost his job, started drinking and found himself homeless. He managed to get some family in Russia to send him money on the condition he went back to Russia.<br/>	“Did he go?”<br/>	Yeah. He never bothered even telling me or Natalia. As for her, I had no idea where she was. I knew she was with her baby somewhere safe. I couldn’t ruin that for her. I knew what I had to do. I had one thing at my disposal to use; the tape. I knew I could use that to safe my ass and survive. <br/>	“Alexi?”<br/>	I had no choice. I had managed over my time with the Syndicate to gather enough knowledge to know people would pay good money for our secrets. I put myself out there selling anything I could. Nothing big at first. I didn’t want to put a bigger target on my back. They already tried to kill me once.<br/>	“Why didn’t you turn yourself in? Go to Skinner and tell them everything? You weren’t in that deep yet. You could’ve cut a deal.”<br/>	I thought about it one night in some run -down motel. I did have enough information to do so. I had no proof but I knew things. I could’ve turned State’s Evidence but they’d find me. they’d rig the system and I’d have nothing. I couldn’t. Part of me wanted to, to tell them I shot Mulder’s father but not Scully’s sister. That bothered me. Luis was the golden one despite him fucking up and killing Melissa. I could’ve given details but no one would believe me. So, instead I decided to whore myself out to the highest bidder.<br/>	“You are no such thing. You are a sweet man. You did what you needed to in order to survive. Ty vyzhivshiy.”<br/>	That’s not how I felt then. Truth be told, I didn’t know what would happen. I did that for awhile before meeting a very interested buyer in some very secret information. That’s when I left the States and ended up in Hong Kong and before you asked, I had fake ID’s and did get a gun over there despite not being able to legally but I was operating outside the law anyway.<br/>	This was a big one. A French dive crew located a downed plane in the waters in the North Pacific. The crew ended up in San Diego with severe radiation burns. Mulder was showing Scully the info on that crew. She was intrigued to say the least. They had an interesting conversation. Well, it was more something Scully said.<br/>	“You’re in the basement because they are afraid of you- of your relentlessness and because they know they could drop you in the middle of the desert and tell you the truth is out there and you’d ask them for a shovel.”<br/>	“Why did that stick out and how did you even know that?”<br/>	I don’t know. It rings true in a way to me and for me. Despite everything I wanted the truth too but at that point it was me against the world and I didn’t care. I still had my ways. All I had was my trusty P226 to keep me comfy and safe.<br/>	That dive crew located the remains of a North American P-51 Mustang. The diver, Gauthier didn’t know what he found. The crew with him was suffering from radiation levels of 200 maybe 400 roentgens. And it had a high rate of absorption. <br/>	“My God. That rates up there with the levels of an atomic bomb. I knew it had radioactive properties but not like that.”<br/>	Yeah. What the guy or crew didn’t know was that a sub named the Zeus Faber was sent to find that plane. Most of those men died of radiation poisoning. Now, the plane had its call number still on it; JTT0111470 and a very unique saying on it as well; “Drop Dead Red.” The military new it existed but yet it was never recovered. <br/>	Mulder, in a way figured something was up. He thought it was a UFO or something. He spoke to the diver but he couldn’t remember anything. The guy was numb and knew nothing but he had a wife that wasn’t there. <br/>	“Where were you during all this?”<br/>	Hong Kong. I was waiting for the woman from this salvage company from California to come. We were meeting to exchange some information.<br/>	“What information was she giving you?”<br/>	I had the information she needed and wanted. Her boss had the money. We were meeting to go over details and such. I should have known it wouldn’t be easy. Mulder met the woman and ended up following her to the airport. Apparently, people were after her. I’m not sure why. I’m guessing it had to do with what she was dealing with.<br/>	“National secrets?”<br/>	Yup. While this was going on, back in D.C. Skinner was shot in a local diner.<br/>	“Why? Who?”<br/>	Melissa Scully’s case was made inactive because they couldn’t let it be known who the killer was. Skinner was appealing that. It was made known that he should let it go but he wouldn’t. He was loyal to Scully. Luis shot him in the diner. He was either taking orders or went rogue. I’m not sure. <br/>	Mulder didn’t know. He was on a long ass flight to Hong Kong keeping an eye on my buyer but he didn’t know that yet. She flew first class, I’m guessing. She had the money. <br/>	“Where were you at this point?”<br/>	Hiding out like I had been for the last five months. It was taking a toll on me. I was looking and feeling like hell. I wasn’t eating right. I was sleeping wherever I could. Cheap ass motels that accept cash and no ID’s. <br/>	“Alexi, that is no way for someone to live. You know that.”<br/>	I know but what choice did I have? I had to lay low. Smokey knew I had the tape. He was going to kill me. He tried once already. I was stuck. I dug myself into that hole. I had to get out of it myself.<br/>	Mulder met my source. Her name was Gerry, I came to learn. He dragged her to her office handcuffed to him. He really is crazy. He handcuffed himself to a woman he didn’t know. He had no idea who they were meeting. It could’ve been a set up.  I had a gun after all.<br/>	They came into the dark office. As soon as he heard my voice, he knew. I’m lucky he didn’t have a gun. He would’ve killed me in a heartbeat. He was his joyful self when he told me to shoot myself in the head like I did to his father. She was pissed. Somehow, she ended up outside the room and was shot. They killed her and would’ve killed us too. I left through the window leaving Mulder there to fend for himself. He managed to get out somehow. He’s got more lives than I do. <br/>	Mulder must have been waiting for me at the airport because he caught off guard. He was at a payphone. He greeted me with a nice punch to the nose followed by a head butt. He got me up against the phones and took my gun. He threatened to kill me right there. He wanted the tape. It’s the only reason he didn’t kill me. It was in D.C. and he needed me to take him to it.<br/>	He took me to the bathrooms so I could clean up. I was bleeding. There was no one in there when I walked in there. I washed up and went to take care of business before the flight. I’m standing there at the urinal when I look over and there is this woman standing there. She didn’t speak but had this look about her. I can’t explain it. She had super human strength and I don’t know but this stuff came out of her and crawled into me. <br/>	It didn’t take long. I wasn’t in there more then a few minutes. I can’t explain the feeling I had but it was something I never felt before. I walked out of that bathroom like nothing had happened but I was different. Mulder was waiting for me and asked if I was better or something. Told him I felt like a “new man.”<br/>	We boarded the plane for a long ass fucking nonstop flight from Hong Kong to D.C. The flight was hell. I was stuck next to Mulder in the middle seat. I’m not sure where he thought I was going to go 30,000ft up but he wouldn’t let me out of his sight. He even watched the door of the bathroom when I got up to pee. <br/>	Let me give you some more background. It might make more sense. In 1953, the Zeus Faber was told an A-bomb was to be recovered from the downed plane but the sailors knew better. Several men in black went to see the last sailor before he died of the radiation poison. The sailor described what he saw on that sub; what he believed killed them. He described something black that slithered its may out of a man and toward a drain in the floor. He wanted it out that that whatever it was should stay there. he trusted the men he spoke to.<br/>	“Who?”<br/>	One CGB Spender and one Bill Mulder. That poor sailor had no idea what he discovered or who those men were. Sadly, he died in vain because they didn’t care about that man just themselves and the project. <br/>	When we landed, Mulder got the rental car and had me drive. I knew where the locker was. I had the key; CI517. Mulder took it of course not trusting me at all. We were driving down County Road 512 in Maryland, when Mulder noticed we were being followed. My guess they were sent for me, to either stop me or catch me. I’m not sure. Anyway, they ran us off the road and we crashed. Mulder was semi out of it. They dragged me out of the car and one sucker punched me in the gut. <br/>	They pulled me away from the car and into the shadows. I really don’t know what I did but I had no control over myself. I just focused and boom. I radiated this force from my body at the two guys and they went down. I took off. I had somewhere I needed to be. <br/>	Mulder ended up in the hospital. He was fine and released. I’m sure Scully updated him on Skinner and the search for the shooter. Meantime, the Syndicate was meeting in New York discussing the leak of sensitive information. I was a wanted man. I knew it. It wouldn’t take long for them to figure out that the last person who had the tape was selling the secrets. <br/>	Mulder had the dive suite from that French guy flown in to the FBI as evidence. The guy’s wife was found in a Hong Kong bathroom; the same bathroom she passed it to me in. she was covered in a thin oil substance same as her husband. When tested it came back as fifty weight diesel fuel. That was the same oil used during World War II on subs and P51 Mustangs. That oil was fifty years old but the composition had been altered by exposure to good old radiation. Mulder being Mulder had a theory that the oil was a medium by an alien creature to body jump. He put together the wife in Hong Kong and me; that I now had the creature in me.<br/>	After I fled the highway, I found my way to old Smokey’s. I’m not sure how but I did. I don’t really remember getting there but I knew I had to get there. <br/>	“Where is it?”<br/>	“I’ve been expecting you.”<br/>	That dumbass Luis pulled a gun on me. he had a lot of reasons to want me dead<br/>	“Put that down. I have what you want.”<br/>	I could feel the oil swimming inside me. It was part of me. In my eagerness to find what I needed, I forgot that Mulder had the key to the locker where I had the tape stored. Only the tape wasn’t there. I still had it on me. Stupid me left the package in there. I must’ve leaned on the envelope because there was an impression of a number on it.<br/>	“What number?”<br/>	555-1012.<br/>	“Oh.”<br/>	Yeah. Mulder called the number and ended up speaking to our tall friend who agreed to meet with him. But that wasn’t all. The FBI identified Skinner’s shooter as our pal Luis Cardinal. That asshole was the golden boy to the old man. I don’t know if you know but he was a career bad guy. He was a UFO foo fighter of sorts. He thought he was a big shot but I was.<br/>	Mulder met up with the tall one and flat out told him I sold the secrets. I mean it was true but he rated me out. They were looking for me too but neither knew where I was. The old smoking bastard did but he wasn’t telling. <br/>	In an attempt to stop Skinner from identifying Louis, a transfer was arranged but Mulder had a feeling something was up and sent Scully to check on Skinner. She was riding with him on the ambulance. The dumb ass opened the door and took a shot at them. Scully ran after him and caught him in an alley. Why she didn’t shoot him, I’ll never know. I mean that bastard killed her sister. It’s in the report that he gave her me if she didn’t kill him. Scully hated both of us but he shot her sister not me. She had the evidence to prove it. Well, he got what he deserved. He was found dead in his cell. No one wanted him to talk. They couldn’t risk it.<br/>	“Where were you at that point?”<br/>	On my way to Black Crow North Dakota. I was going to the abandoned missile silo. I was drawn there. I had to find that silo.<br/>	“You were looking for the salvaged UFO.”<br/>	Yeah. I was drawn to it. that damn oil was controlling me. Most of the silos on the decommissioned base had been filled in but not the one. I heard noises coming in my direction but there was nothing I could do. They were soo close. Smokey was there too. I heard him. Mulder and Scully knew I was there and so did Smokey. <br/>	I was locked in a room, door 1013. It was an extreme danger sign about radiation on the door. I saw it when I got there. <br/>	“Alexi, it’s alright. I know this isn’t easy for you. Tell me.”<br/>	It’s not easy but it’s alright. You know I trust you more then anything or anyone. <br/>	“Alexi.”<br/>	I was in that room and right in front of me was the UFO. This machine was something I had never seen before. It was beautiful. A force pushed me to the ship; to the top. That’s when things got really odd. I hunched over like I was going to be sick and in a way I was. The oil started coming out of my mouth, eyes and nose. It was horrible. It was out of my control. It just kept coming out. I watched the puddle form into a blob and move toward the center of the ship. It slid into this one spot on the top of the ship. <br/>	It took a few minutes for the oil to stop coming out of me. I was drained. I made my way slowly to the door covered in oil. I couldn’t open it. I didn’t realize it locked soon as it closed and couldn’t be opened from the inside. I started screaming and pounding on the door but no one came. I knew Smokey was there. He wouldn’t come. He had what he wanted and left me there. He left me there to die.<br/>	I had no food or water. There was nothing but me and that damn ship. I thought I was going to die there. It was to the point that I had to pee in the corner and if I needed something to drink I had to pee in my hand and drink it. Not recommended. I guess I was there two or three days. I lost track. I heard a sound from behind me. It was the door open and you walked in.<br/>	I knew who you were but had never met you before. You were a beacon of light and hope. Ty moy spasitel’, moy spasatel’. Never forget that. I don’t know what I would’ve done had you not opened that door and saved me. I was soo weak and dirty. You got me out of there and into a SUV if I remember right. I passed out pretty quickly. <br/>	“You were exhausted, dehydrated, starving and physically drained by the whole experience.”<br/>	I was afraid to sleep in fear of what would happen. That thing was still in the room. Smokey could’ve come back to kill me. What if I didn’t wake up? I kept waking myself up. I think I only slept only a couple hours the whole time I was there. <br/>	“You were pretty out when we arrived at the house. I don’t think you even woke up when the car stopped. We carried you in.”<br/>	I don’t even remember that. First thing I do is waking up in a nice bed still tired as hell but needing a bathroom. I had no idea where I was or where the bathroom was.<br/>	“Not to mention the fluids we had going into you.”<br/>	That too but then you came in. You lit up the room. You took that IV out and showed me to the bathroom where a change of clothes was and a shower. You really pulled out the stops for me and you didn’t even know me. <br/>	“I knew of you and where you were.”<br/>	But why save me?<br/>	“You were worth saving, Alexi. I couldn’t just leave you there to die.”<br/>	I wasn’t worth anything then. I don’t think I ever truly thanked you for saving me. There are no words to say. Ty moy geroy.<br/>	“Alexi. I am not.”<br/>	Yes, you are. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. Marita, you saved me.<br/>	“Oh, Alexi. We saved each other. I love you.”<br/>	I love you too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I got all the translations on line so if they are wrong, I'm sorry.<br/>my love: moya lyubov<br/>you are a survivor: tyvyzhivshiy<br/>you are my savior: ty moy spasitel'<br/>you are my hero: ty moy geroy<br/>my rescuer: moy spasatel'</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. What Next?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Alex survives the silo. Now what?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That shower felt like heaven. It had been days since I had one. Surprised you were able to deal with my smell.<br/>	“You were not that bad.”<br/>	Marita, I reeked like hell. I think I used half a bar of soap just to feel clean. Once I was out, dried and dressed I felt almost human. I was still pretty weak though. When I walked out of the bathroom, you were there in the hallway right outside the door.<br/>	“Yes. I was worried about you. As you said, you were weak. I wanted to make sure you were alright. You could have fallen. Then what? I’d have an injured or dead you.”<br/>	I can’t imagine that would’ve been good for you. I had never heard them mention you before. Then again, I was out of the picture for a while.<br/>	“I was new to the group. They paid me for my access. I could go anywhere and no one would question it. I never did figure out how they found me or why. Never will either.”<br/>	No, you won’t. I thought it was odd that you were there and not one of the guys you mentioned. If I did need help or fell, how were you going to help me?<br/>	“I wouldn’t have been able to lift you but I would’ve heard you. That would’ve been helpful.”<br/>	You are soo bad. You were hoping I’d need you. You wanted to see me naked.<br/>	“I did not. Not then at least.”<br/>	Fine. After the shower, you took me down to the kitchen to eat. You insisted I eat something light.<br/>	“Well, you hadn’t eaten in days. Eating a burger was not the best option for you. You would’ve gotten sick. Eggs and toast were better.”<br/>	How do you figure that? I got sick anyway. <br/>	“Because you ate too fast and too much. I told you to go slow. You didn’t listen. Your son gets that from you.”<br/>	Yeah, he does. Anyway, that was brutal. You were there with a cool rag when I got out of the bathroom and helped me back to my room. No one had ever taken that kind of care of me before.<br/>	“Not even your mother when you were a little boy?”<br/>	Nope. I had a pretty bad case of the flu one year. I was maybe six or seven. It was horrible. I had like a 103 fever, bad cough, could breathe or eat. I was home for a week. She was pissed she had to miss work which turned out to be her vacation time meaning no family vacation that year.<br/>	“Oh.”<br/>	Yeah. You really were the first person to care for me like that. I know I was out of it that first day. You brought me soup for lunch. I think I kept that down.<br/>	“You did. You were a bit nervous eating it though. I brought up two bowls. Figured I’d join you but I think you were afraid you’d get sick again.”<br/>	I was. I almost puked on you once. I wasn’t about to make an ass of myself by doing it again. You remember how you got me to eat?<br/>	“Yes. I told you it was my mother’s soup and it would be an insult not to try it. I also told you it was light and I used to eat it as a child when I was sick.” <br/>	I did eat it just as you instructed and it was good. I remember we sat there and ate in silence for a while before I broke the silence. <br/>	“You did. You started thanking me in some backwards way. You seemed nervous and unsure of me and if everything.”<br/>	I was. They had already tried to kill me twice. What did you think I was going to feel? There was something about you though. I kind of let my guard down with you. I let you stay in the room for a while after we ate. Then you left.<br/>	“I had things to do and you needed to rest.”<br/>	I know. I think I dozed off for a bit. I know I came down to help with dinner. Or tried to anyway.<br/>	“You attempted to. You my dear are horrible in the kitchen.”<br/>	I tried. At least I cleaned the dishes. That took all the energy I had. I went to bed early that night. Didn’t have an easy night though.<br/>	“No, you didn’t. I checked on you before going to bed myself. You were tossing and restless. I didn’t want to bother you. I didn’t know if that was a normal thing for you. I just closed the door and left you there. I wish I hadn’t.”<br/>	Marita, you didn’t know. We had just met. You knew nothing about me. I could’ve hurt you. I never hurt a woman. I’m not that fucked up. <br/>	“You are not fucked up. I believe I have told you that many times before. One day you’ll listen to me.”<br/>	One day. You, my love came back that night. No need to beat yourself up over that. You were there when I needed you.<br/>	“I had to do something. You were screaming. I knocked on that door several times before I went in.”<br/>	Why did you wait?<br/>	“I didn’t know what to expect. No one knew we were there so I doubted it was that but I had no weapon if it was. It could’ve been you and if I scared you, I could’ve been injured. I listened at the door.”<br/>	You heard me that night? You heard what I was saying?<br/>	“Umm.”<br/>	Marita? Tell me. That night, did you hear what I was saying?<br/>	“Yes.”<br/>	Why didn’t you tell me?<br/>	“And tell you what? That I stood outside your door and heard you moaning and babbling. You were asleep still when I went into your room. I assumed you were having a nightmare. Although I wasn’t sure about what. I couldn’t figure it out. You weren’t making much sense.”<br/>	That really didn’t answer the question why you didn’t tell me you heard me talking that night.<br/>	“God, Alexei. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. You didn’t know me enough yet. Hell, we had just met two days before and you slept pretty much the whole time.”<br/>	You were that concerned about me? We just met. You could’ve used that to your advantage but you didn’t.<br/>	“No, I didn’t. That’s not how I work. There was nothing to gain from hurting you. You were hurting enough. It was obvious.”<br/>	I was hurting. You were soo gentle waking me up. I was embarrassed that I woke you but you didn’t care. You pulled up the chair from the corner and sat next to the bed. <br/>	“You couldn’t catch your breath. It took you a few minutes to calm down. Then even more to get you to talk. You just kept apologizing for waking me which I didn’t care about. I was more concerned with you.”<br/>	I noticed. Once you made sure I was calmed down, you went back to your room. I didn’t really sleep much after that. I couldn’t really. Too many things were going through my mind.<br/>	“I figured when I found you downstairs wondering around like a caged animal.”<br/>	I felt like one. I wasn’t used to staying in one place not looking over my shoulder.<br/>	“I always wondered. Why didn’t you leave? You stayed for what two weeks?”<br/>	Three. At first, I was too weak to go anywhere. That damn oil took a lot out of me. Then I realized I had no idea where I was too leave. But as time went on, I didn’t want to. I was enjoying myself. It had been far too long since I was able to let my guard don and just be me. It was nice.<br/>	That night though, was tough. I could’ve done without that though. I was out pretty early again. I didn’t realize how much sleep I was lacking over the months.<br/>	“I heard you again that night but by the time I got to your room, you were awake and heading for the bathroom.”<br/>	Yeah and you were at my door when I came out of the bathroom. You knew, didn’t you?<br/>	“That you were having nightmares? I had a pretty good idea but wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. I had the feeling you weren’t one for sharing things.”<br/>	You would be right about that. I learned early on that no one cared so why bother. You, however were different. I could tell. It only took three nights of nightmares for me to realize it.<br/>	“I noticed. That night when I got to your room, you were sitting up panting. But when I looked into your eyes, I saw something different. You didn’t want me to leave. You wanted me to stay.”<br/>	You did. You sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand. I felt something in the moment that I never imagined I would.<br/>	“What?”<br/>	Love. You sat with me that night and made sure I was alright. I fell back to sleep that night with you holding my hand. You didn’t have to do that but you did. For the first time in years, I felt safe. <br/>	“Is that when you knew?”<br/>	That I could trust you? Yeah.<br/>	“I didn’t mean that but I think you know what I do mean?”<br/>	I know what you mean and the answer is I don’t know. That’s not entirely true. I knew I felt something for you. I just didn’t know it was love yet. That, however didn’t take long for me to figure out.<br/>	When I woke up that morning, you were still there sitting in that damn chair, hand still holding mine. We didn’t speak of it but merely gave each other a look and like a flash, you were leaving the room to get breakfast ready. I took an extra long shower that morning.<br/>	“Alexei.”<br/>	What? I’m human you know. It wasn’t like I had a beautiful woman in my room every night. I told you, you made me feel things I had never felt before.<br/>	“Not sure how I feel about that considering you didn’t know me and yet had to take a long shower after I held your hand.”<br/>	You make me sound like a pervert.<br/>	“No, just a man.”<br/>	Haha. That was a good day. We just enjoyed silence and each other. It was oddly…<br/>	“Normal?”<br/>	I was thinking domestic but normal fits too. I didn’t want that night to end. I knew what awaited me.<br/>	“The nightmares?”<br/>	Yeah. I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to get back to myself and go after that bastard for leaving me in that damn silo to die. I walked into that room knowing I wasn’t going to sleep but couldn’t ask.<br/>	“Ask what? For me to stay?”<br/>	Yeah. Big old killer can’t stand nightmares and needs someone to hold his hand like a child. It would not have gone over well.<br/>	“How do you know that?”<br/>	Marita, let’s be honest here. I was a gun for hire back then. I had to be the tough guy. Couldn’t let you or anyone know I was having nightmares. Killer goes soft.<br/>	“But I already knew about the nightmares. You had nothing to hide from me. I knew.”<br/>	Didn’t want you to think I was weak. You worked for them. If they found out, they’d use it against me.<br/>	“Do you really think I would have told them?”<br/>	Looking back, I probably did at that moment but I knew shortly after no. I should have just asked you to stay. I was pathetic. Instead I let you hear me again.<br/>	“First off, you are not pathetic. You just have serious trust issues.”<br/>	Can you blame me?<br/>	“Not one bit. I listened at the door before I went in. You were tossing and turning. I knew I had to wake you.”<br/>	You did so nicely too. Once I focused, I saw you sitting on the bed again. It feels like that was yesterday.<br/>	“Alex, are you alright?”<br/>	“I… can’t breathe.”<br/>	“Breathe with me. You can do it. Just take slow deep breaths with me. That’s it. You’ve got it. Just like that.”<br/>	“Thank you. Sorry, I woke you up. Again.”<br/>	“Are you alright?”<br/>	“I think so.”<br/>	“Alex, talk to me. I’m here to help you. I know we don’t know each other but I want to help. You can’t keep doing this every night.”<br/>	“What are you talking about?”<br/>	“The nightmares. How long do you think you can keep up the sleepless nights? Talk to me. Please.”<br/>	*cries*<br/>	“Talk to me. Let me help you.”<br/>	*crying continues*<br/>	“I can’t do this anymore?”<br/>	“Then let me help you. Give me some of that pain you’re feeling.”<br/>	“Ok.”<br/>	“Good. Take your time and tell me. You set the pace. Whenever you’re ready.”<br/>	“OK. They all are basically the same thing. I’m back in that room and I can’t get out.”<br/>	“What room?”<br/>	“In the silo. I can’t get out. They go different from there. I either am still possessed by the oil or the ship takes off burning me or it consumes me and I turn. This one I saw my own death. The oil took over and it burned my eyes and everywhere in my body until I fell to the ground in a heap of chard flesh.”<br/>	“Oh, Alex. I’m not sure what to say. That’s horrible. I’m sorry you had to experience any of that. What that bastard did to you was downright horrible. I heard through the grapevine that he knew where the ship was and that you were headed there. He knew what would happen but what I don’t know is if he knew you would survive the ordeal. But it’s not important now. What is important is that you are alive and safe here. You can stay as long as you need or like to.”<br/>	“Thank you. I appreciate it. I won’t stay long.”<br/>	“Where will you go?”<br/>	“Not sure. I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about me. I can find a place to crash.”<br/>	“Do you have money?”<br/>	“Some on me but the rest is, well not easily accessible at the moment.”<br/>	Marita got up from her spot and walked out of the room returning a few moments later with an envelope. She handed it to Alex and sat back down.<br/>	“What’s this?”<br/>	“Open and find out.”<br/>	Alex opened the envelope and quickly closed it.<br/>	“I can’t take this.”<br/>	“Yes, you can. I’m giving it to you. To help you out.”<br/>	“I don’t need help.”<br/>	“Oh really? You don’t need help you say. You needed help getting into this house. You needed help sleeping. Alex, you have no money and no place to stay when you leave here. You need my help.”<br/>	“I can’t ask you for money.”<br/>	“You’re not. I’m giving it to you. It’s five thousand dollars. That should be enough for you to get by for a while.”<br/>	“I don’t know what to say. Thank you. I’ll repay you.”<br/>	“Not necessary. Just get yourself on track.”<br/>	“I will. Thank you.”<br/>	“You’re welcome. Do you think you’ll be able to get back to sleep?”<br/>	“Honestly, I don’t know. It’s hard to after the nightmares.”<br/>	“I can imagine. Is there anything I can do to help relax you? Tea? Warm milk?”<br/>	“No, thank you. Umm, there is something but I don’t exactly know how to ask.”<br/>	“Just ask. No harm in that.”<br/>	“Ok. Umm, could you, ummm stay? I slept pretty well with you here.”<br/>	“Of course I can.”<br/>	I still can’t believe you stayed the night with me. Again. I was pathetic. <br/>	“Alexi?”<br/>	I know. Not pathetic. I still cannot believe you climbed into bed though.<br/>	“I was not spending the night in that chair again. Besides, that bed was huge. It was a king after all.”<br/>	It was weird at first having you in bed with me but you got me to relax.<br/>	“You are not that difficult to figure out. You just needed some reassurance that everything was alright. All I did was grab your hand. You instantly relaxed.”<br/>	You have that ability. No one else ever has or will. <br/>	“You slept like a rock the rest of the night. And that morning wasn’t uncomfortable at all.”<br/>	I had almost forgotten about that. We woke up in each-other’s arms.<br/>	“I could never forget that. You turned a very bright shade of red.”<br/>	Well, I was curled up with a beautiful woman in my bed. I was soo embarrassed. You didn’t deserve to wake up with my hard-on pressing into you.<br/>	“It didn’t bother me.”<br/>	Oh I figured that out rather quickly. You Marita Covarrubias are a bold woman. You made the first move.”<br/>	“Didn’t think you were going to and it’s Krycek.”<br/>	What?<br/>	“My name. It’s Krycek not Covarrubias. Remember?”<br/>	How the hell could I forget that. You leaned on and kissed me. I was shocked but God did it feel good. <br/>	“That was a wonderful morning.”<br/>	It really was. I’m honestly surprised I lasted as long as I did. It had been a while since I was with a woman. I didn’t want to embarrass myself.<br/>	“Oh, honey. You did no such thing. Believe me. I had never felt like that before.”<br/>	Stroke the ego. Thanks. That’s when I knew.<br/>	“Knew what?”<br/>	That I loved you. <br/>	“You knew you loved me after we had sex?”<br/>	No. Not fully. I started to fall from you from the start but it got more obvious as the days went on but that night when you climbed into bed for me, I knew. The sex just confirmed it. I just couldn’t tell you then.<br/>	“I had a feeling you did. You just changed that day.”<br/>	I wish things were different back then. I got scared and bolted. My feelings for you were like no other. I thought I was sparing you my hell when I left. I never even told you that I was leaving or that I loved you.<br/>	“Now you didn’t. You stayed a few more days then were gone. Where did you go?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9: Time to take a trip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What happens when Alex leaves?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marita, I had to leave. You have to know that.<br/>	“I didn’t ask you why you left. I asked you where you went.”<br/>	The two are somewhat connected. If you let me, I can explain.<br/>	“Go ahead. No one is stopping you, Alexi.”<br/>	Ok. I, for a lack of a better reason got spooked. I really was enjoying myself. I had never felt that relaxed and carefree. You did that. You caused me to feel like I was human again and not some monster. I started to get nervous. I knew nothing could come of us back then not with them around.<br/>	“You went after them.”<br/>	Yeah. I went on the hunt. I wish things went differently. This may seem odd but I was searching for answers. While I was out there, I put my ear to the ground and gained some interesting information. This will make sense later but for now it might not.<br/>	A man was detained in a Hawaii airport. He had Diplomatic papers and was stopped at customs. He came from Japan by way of Georgia caring a case with what was reported as biohazardous material. Nothing was marked. Whatever was in the case was exposed to the TSA guy who opened the case.<br/>	“Alexi?”<br/>	Yeah. That. I didn’t know it then though. I found out later on. I traveled around staying underground. I had to but that didn’t mean I wasn’t doing things. I was working so to speak.<br/>	There was a warehouse in Queens, I was headed to with some guys I had gotten involved with. I had an idea as to what was going to go down that night but not to the degree it did. <br/>	“What do you mean?”<br/>	Mulder had received a series of receipts over a few weeks. They were detonation cord, racing and diesel fuel, eighty bags of ammonium nitrate.<br/>	“Oh my god.”<br/>	Exactly. They were all bought with cash on different states. Then the day before, receipts were sent for the first and last on storage space for the location in Queens as well of one for a two- ton truck. The guys we were meeting were heavily armed. Things went to hell when we got there. The feds were there to take down the guys I was with. The driver of the truck I was in took off. We were followed by two agents. Shots were fired and we were stopped. Before I knew it, I was out of the truck facing Mulder and Scully.<br/>	“You son of a bitch.”<br/>	I was punched before I even spoke. I was on the ground and if Scully wasn’t there, Mulder would’ve beaten me to death. I was on the ground unarmed.<br/>	“I handed you this bust Mulder.”<br/>	“Oh, come on Krycek.”<br/>	“Who do you think sent you those receipts?”<br/>	Mulder knew I had him by the balls. He got that bust because of me. Mulder knew Scully would never let him do anything stupid despite how much I may have deserved it. He walked away after handcuffing me. The others involved were all taken into custody. We went into an area of the building that wasn’t crawling with agents.<br/>	“Most of the detonation cord was stolen from a construction site and some of the explosives were just taken from a military base. I mean, security’s just so lax. It’s a joke! Most everything else was over the counter. 2000 kilos of boom boom.”<br/>	“How’d you get involved with these men?”<br/>	“They found me in North Dakota. They liberated me on a salvage hunt. Hey, you go underground you got to learn to live with the rats.”<br/>	“I’m sure you had no trouble adapting.”<br/>	“You ended up back in North Dakota?”<br/>	Yeah. And Mulder’s comment was how my nickname of rat boy came to be/<br/>	“These men are pathetic revolutionaries who would kill innocent Americans in the name of bonehead ideologies.”<br/>	“You’re full of crap Krycek. You’re an invertebrate scum-sucker whose moral dipstick’s about two drops short of bone dry.”<br/>	“Hey, I love this country.”<br/>	“What do you want, Krycek?”<br/>	“Same thing you do. To find the men who tried to kill me. The same man that’s responsible for your father’s death. Your sister’s.”<br/>	“You want this man brought to justice?”<br/>	“You…can’t bring these men to justice. They’re protected. The laws of this country protect these men under the name of national security. They know no law.”<br/>	“Then why don’t you put a bullet in his head like you did that man out there?”<br/>	“You were right. Those men know no laws and think they are above everything this country stands for. Alexei, what did Mulder mean about the bullet in that man’s head? What man?”<br/>	“The driver of the truck I was in. I shot him before the Feds got us. I wasn’t out to kill the guy but he would’ve turned me in and I needed to get to Mulder.”<br/>	“I have to believe you. Continue your story”<br/>	“These men, they fear one thing: exposure. You expose…him… expose his crimes…you destroy the destroyer’s ability to destroy.”<br/>	“The only thing that will destroy this man is the truth.”<br/>	“The truth…the truth…there’s there’s no truth. These men they just-they make it up as they go along. They’re the engineers of the future. They… they’re the real revolutionaries. I can get them for you, too.”<br/>	“We can’t help you Krycek.”<br/>	“Mulder. This is just one bomb I’m sitting on here. You didn’t ask me how many more I know about.”<br/>	I was lucky Scully was there. She seems to be the only person that can get through to him. I unloaded a lot on to them. They knew I had knowledge of this mystery man.<br/>	“You worked for him.”<br/>	Don’t remind me. I didn’t know his name or anything but I knew where to find him. I wanted him to suffer. He tried to kill me. Twice. Bastard only looked out for himself. If anyone could stop him, it was those two.<br/>	Scully pulled him aside. I don’t know what she said to him but he came back and told me to spill it. He was intrigued by me and what I knew.<br/>	“What did you tell them?”<br/>	That someone was arriving in Dulles that would be of interest to them. I didn’t know specifics just that he was carrying with him something that those men wanted and where he was coming from. We ended up at the airport, me still in cuffs with a jacket covering my hands. <br/>	“What flight is he on?”<br/>	“There’s an international charter that originated in Russia. Turkish airlines.”<br/>	“There it is- Air Lacayo. Got in at 6:45. That’s fifteen minutes ago. Let’s go.”<br/>	“He still has to go through customs.”<br/>	“No. He’ll be carrying a diplomatic pouch.”<br/>	We stood there not very long before I spotted the guy. Scully went to intercept the guy. As soon as she approached, he got spooked and bolted. Mulder cuffed me to a railing and joined Scully in her chase of the guy. I just stood there. People walked by not giving me a thought. It was actually nice. They came back maybe ten minutes later not happy. They were alone but they had the pouch.<br/>	“Is this some kind of joke?”<br/>	“What?”<br/>	“Show him.”<br/>	“What is it?”<br/>	“Expose it for him, Scully.”<br/>	Scully opened the pouch for me. It was a big black rock. It looked just like any other rock you’d see.<br/>	“What did you get for Halloween, Charlie Brown?”<br/>	It was late so Mulder dropped Scully off at the Hoover to get her car. She had the pouch. I think anyway. It was well after midnight at this point. Mulder kept silent as he drove me somewhere. He wouldn’t tell me no matter how much I asked. I was getting worried that he was going to take me to some remote place and kill me. <br/>	I started to relax a little but when we turned into a town. There were houses and cars so I figured I was safe. We turned into an apartment complex. Mulder had a look on his face that mean I was far from safe. He knocked on a door and seconds later I was being hauled into an apartment and being sucker punched in the gut by Skinner. Mulder let him drag me out to the balcony and cuff me to a rail. It was cold and thought I’d freeze to death.<br/>	I over heard Mulder talking to Skinner. I couldn’t make out everything that was being said. Just a word here and there. Not enough to figure anything out. I spent the night out there on the balcony. I was just too tired to fight it. <br/>	“Do you know what happened to the pouch?”<br/>	Scully had it. She took it to get tested. That rock turned out to be a Mars rock. There was an accident when the doctor drilled into it. Scully and Pendrell were going to handle that. Mulder had more important things to worry about.<br/>	I was awoken by a noise in Skinner’s apartment. Someone was tossing the place looking for something.<br/>	“The pouch?”<br/>	Yeah. Well, the guy came out on to the balcony but I wasn’t there. I was hanging over. There was a struggle and he went over the edge. He was the guy who had the pouch in the airport. He wanted to know where it was and who took it. <br/>	Mulder got there and was taxed with getting me out of the building without being stopped by the cops. He’s sneaky. We managed to get out and got a car. Mulder called Scully and asked her to get him an address in New York. I heard who he asked for. He asked for your address, Marita. <br/>	“Yeah, I had helped him before. I became a source for him. I was inside but I don’t think he knew how much I was involved.”<br/>	What happened that night?<br/>	“Who is it?”<br/>	“Fox Mulder.”<br/>	“What are you doing here?”<br/>	“I need your help.”<br/>	“How do you know where I live?”<br/>	“FBI database. I’m sorry. It’s a matter of extreme urgency. A diplomatic pouch left Russia and arrived here in the US. Two men are dead and I need to know why?”<br/>	“I thought for a second before unlocking the door and allowing him in. Mulder dozed off a bit while I was checking on that pouch. I walked into the room and hide to wake him.”<br/>	“Agent Mulder?”<br/>	“He woke up rather easily. He was not a deep sleeper.”<br/>	“The diplomatic pouch traveled an apex route to the Russian province of Krasnoyarsk.”<br/>	“Krasnoyarsk?”<br/>	“Port of Entry was the city of Norilsk.”<br/>	“That’s just north of Tunguska.”<br/>	“Tunguska?”<br/>	“Yeah.”<br/>	“He started looking around the room for something. He is not an organized man.”<br/>	“What are you looking for?”<br/>	“My cell phone. I’m going to book myself on a flight to Krasnoyarsk, Russia.”<br/>	“I can help you, Agent Mulder.”<br/>	“Find my cell phone?”<br/>	“No. With counter credentials, a diplomatic passport, a visa.”<br/>	“Why?” Why are you helping me?”<br/>	“Because I can. Because there are those of us who believe in you…believe in your search for the truth.”<br/>	“How long will it take?”<br/>	“How long do you have?”<br/>	Did you mean what you said to him? Why you were helping him?<br/>	“Yes. I truly believed in Agent Mulder. I still do. My feelings toward his work never wavered. There was a truth that needed to be told.”<br/>	You were the one who got him to Russia. I never knew that. I knew he sought you out for help but you gave him the visa. That was a bold move. If they knew you helped him, that would not have been good for you. You had to know that.<br/>	“I did but I knew he needed help getting there and I was the one who could help. It was worth the risk.”<br/>	That’s you, Marita. I was asleep in the car by the time he got down from your place. I made some wise crack and he punched me for it. That guy works out, you can tell. Anyway, we left your place and drove to JFK. That bastard parked in long term parking and was going to leave me there. Scully would come give me water in a week if Mulder wasn’t back.<br/>	When he walked away, leaving me in the car, I started yelling and searing at him in Russian. That got his attention. He came back over and was sort of impressed that I spoke Russian.<br/>	“Is that how he learned about your parents?”<br/>	Yeah. I never give away personal information but it slipped out. It worked well for me at that moment because Mulder realized I would be of use in Russia. We somehow made our way into the airport and got on a plane. That was a hell of a long flight. I spent the next twenty-six hours on a plane with Mulder. We had 2 lay-overs but twenty-six hours on a plane with a man that hated me was not my idea of a good day. But we made it and hitched a ride on some local’s truck to get closer to Tunguska. We arrived at some barbed wire fence which we promptly started digging under. I still had no idea why we were there.<br/>	“You’re really going to keep me in the dark, aren’t you? What are we doing here Mulder?”<br/>	“June 30, 1908. Tungus tribesmen and Russian fur traders look up into the south eastern Siberian sky and see a fireball streaking to Earth. When it hit the atmosphere, it created a series of cataclysmic explosions that are considered to be the largest single cosmic event in the history of civilization- 2000 times the force of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.”<br/>	“What was it?”<br/>	“It’s been speculated that it was a piece of a comet or an asteroid, or even a piece of antimatter. The power of the blast leveled trees in a radial pattern for 2000 kilometers but no real definitive evidence has ever been found to provide a satisfying explanation for what happened.”<br/>	I didn’t have time to even let that sink in because Mulder was shimming under the fence. <br/>	“I think somebody found that evidence and the explanation is something that nobody ever dreamed of.”<br/>	I followed him under the fence and quickly caught up to him. He was jogging. We came upon a camp of sorts not far from the fence we entered from. It was brutal. The men there were soo thin. They looked like victims of the work camps during the War. Men on horses were whipping the workers as they were falling down or not working fast enough. We saw one fall from what looked like exhaustion. <br/>	“What are they doing?”<br/>	“Looks like some kind of mining camp. I don’t think they’re miners.”<br/>	Some guards caught us and we ran. We had to. We didn’t know what they would do to us if they caught us. They caught me first. Mulder was a faster runner than I was. Mulder was caught not long after me, I’m guessing.<br/>	We were thrown into cinderblock cells. A gulag. Mulder was there when I was tossed back in.<br/>	“Back in?”<br/>	Yeah. I was taken and interrogated. I had to pull out the Russian charm to save my own ass. I told them that we were stupid Americans that got lost in the woods. They didn’t really believe me so I used my magic ability to lie and cheat to my favor. Mulder was not pleased with me. He didn’t trust me and had no reason to but he needed me in there with him in order to survive. I had to use that to my advantage. <br/>	The guards gave us water in bowls but it had bugs in it. I’ve been in some shitty places before but this gulag was the worst place. There was no place to sit, sleep or even pee. Prisons have better set ups. The guards came and took me again. I told them what they wanted. I needed to survive. <br/>	Mulder was taken. They drugged him. He was brought to a testing room where he was placed on the table. A spray came down from above him.<br/>	“The oil?”<br/>	Yeah. Mulder became a test subject only he had no idea. I actually felt bad for him. I know what that shit can do to you. He wasn’t exposed to the amount I was but still it sucks.<br/>	“I’m aware.”<br/>	I know. He was returned to the cell but I was not. I was in a nice room. I had a bed, hot shower, food and clothes. While Mulder was in the cell, I think that’s when he figured out what I was up to.<br/>	“How do you know that?”<br/>	Because of what happened next. The next morning, hundreds of miners were at the camp. A group was being herded like cattle. I was lighting a smoke for one of the men doing the tests. He must’ve saw me and was pissed. He ran past the guards, punched someone I think. I’m not sure but he did punch me out cold. He got into the truck we were standing on and drove off. Those roads are the worst. We were chased by the guards. I came to somewhat quickly. Either Mulder was losing it or the bumpy roads woke me up but I couldn’t have been out long. I had no idea what Mulder was going to do besides kill me. So, I did what I thought was best in the moment; I rolled off the truck. I ended up hurting my arm in the process though. I ran for a while in the woods. I ran into some people in the woods. Locals I guess but they were all missing an arm. <br/>	“What do you want from me?”<br/>	“Why do you run?”<br/>	“I have escaped from the prison camp?”<br/>	“You are a liar.”<br/>	“No.. I’m sorry. No, I am an American…and I’ve been falsely accused of spying.”<br/>	“Then your enemy is mine. We can protect you.”<br/>	At night, once it was dark, the young men I was in the woods with decided it was time to protect me. They held me down and heated a knife in the fire before cutting off my left arm.<br/>	“I, to this day cannot say how sorry I am enough times for what happened to you.”<br/>	Marita, you don’t have to say anything. I got myself into the mess. You did nothing wrong.<br/>	“I know but I can still feel bad you know.”<br/>	You can. Now, while I was back in the forest getting butchered, shit was going on back home. I’m not sure what you know but I’ll just tell it. <br/>	“I know a bit about the pouch mainly because I helped Mulder with it. It contained a rock. That rock contained the oil; the virus.”<br/>	Pretty much. There was a man by the name of Vassily Peskow. He was sent to kill Dr. Charne-Sayre. She was supposed to get the pouch.<br/>	“She was a very well know Virologist. She specialized in Variola viruses. Her death was staged to look like a riding accident.”<br/>	They did. The smoking man met with our favorite Brit to discuss that. It seems that he had a thing with her and Smokey wasn’t happy. The doc was the Brits personal doctor but they had a thing. He knew she was murdered. Smokey wanted Senator Sorenson to call off the Senate Sub-committee. Of course that wasn’t going to happen.<br/>	“What was his reasoning?”<br/>	He said Sorenson was an honorable man. I would’ve loved to have seen that committee. I heard Scully was on fire.<br/>	“Oh, she was. I managed to get a peek at the transcripts. Little Miss Dana Scully is one tough woman.”<br/>	“I left behind a career in medicine to become an FBI Agent four years ago because I believed in this country, because I wanted to uphold its laws, to punish the guilty and to protect the innocent. I still believe in this country, but I believe there are powerful men in this government who do not- men who have no respect for the law and who flout it with impunity. I have come to the conclusion… that it is no longer possible…”<br/>	“She was being asked about Mulder’s whereabouts. Scully, I don’t think knew where he was.”<br/>	“I respectfully refuse to answer that question, sir because…because I believe answering that question could endanger Agent Mulder’s life.”<br/>	“She wanted to continue her little speech that she had prepared. I will agree with Mulder, when Scully set her mind to something, she went for it.”<br/>	“…that it is no longer possible for me to carry out my duties as an FBI Agent.”<br/>	Scully was going to resign?”<br/>	“Just listen, my love.”<br/>	“No, sir. What I am saying… is that there is a culture of lawlessness that has prevented me from doing my job- that the real target of this committee’s investigation should be the men who are beyond prosecution and punishment, the men whose secret policies are behind the crimes that you are investigating.”<br/>	Damn. I knew she was a tough chick but, she went with that to a Senate committee. That takes guts.<br/>	“Yeah, well she was held in contempt of Congress for not selling Mulder out. She spent the night in a cell. The next day was more interesting. She was back at her table, when for lack of a better phrase, hell broke loose. They were asking something.”<br/>	“What is the question?”<br/>	Mulder?<br/>	“Yup. He got out of Russia and back to DC to stir the pot, yet again.”<br/>	“That the death of Dr. Charne-Sayre given her field of expertise strongly suggests that she knew something about the toxin, about its origins and that knowledge may be directly linked to the murder of the man in Assistant Director Skinner’s apartment building.”<br/>	“She was interrupted by Skinner during her declaration about the doctor.”<br/>	“Um.. Assistant Director Skinner has just informed me that there has been an accident directly related… a doctor infected with the toxin has died under suspicious circumstances involving a theft of evidence…of the contents of the diplomatic pouch.”<br/>	“They dismissed them so they could investigate the death and catch up.”<br/>	I know about the catching up part. I’ll take over for a few. They ended up in Florida and a nursing home. All the patients died of the same thing. They were test subjects. Of course, they thought it was me or that I was involved. Sadly, they were wrong this time. I was in Russia missing a limb.<br/>	They decided to head and talk to one of the guys from the bust. They were interested in me and my part of the whole thing.<br/>	“How did he come into contact with you? Off the record.”<br/>	“He came to us with some building materials and some big ideas.”<br/>	“What was he looking to build?”<br/>	“Two…devices.”<br/>	“Did he ever mention black cancer?”<br/>	“Oh yeah.”<br/>	“What did he say?”<br/>	“Developed by the Soviets. Saddam used it in the Gulf.”<br/>	“You mean as bio warfare?”<br/>	“That’s why they made those service men take all them pills. U.S. government knew about the black cancer. Didn’t have no cure, no inoculation.”<br/>	That guy later told them where the second bomb was. It was in Terma, North Dakota. That rock was on its way back to Canada to be put back in the ground where it belonged. Mulder figured out that someone used me and I used them.<br/>	Mulder and Scull flew out there to find the truck. It was in a refinery. They didn’t get to it in time and it went off. No one was hurt though.<br/>	“Ah. Well Scully was due back at the committee after that.”<br/>	“Evidence linking a number of deaths- a great number- to a biotoxin that was transported to U.S. soil by a courier that was also killed.”<br/>	“Scully was then told or asked about the ID of the man pushed from A.D. Skinner’s apartment or the man who pushed him.”<br/>	“Yes, Sir. Alex Krycek. Who is missing and possibly deceased.”<br/>	“They had evidence that was being presented.”<br/>	“Documents and interviews in support of a wide-ranging conspiracy to control a lethal biotoxin that is in fact extraterrestrial.”<br/>	“There were jokes about little green men and all that but Scully was quick to stop that.”<br/>	“No, Sir not at all…”<br/>	“Why is this so hard to believe? When the accepted discovery of life off this planet is on the front page of every news paper around the world? When even the most conservative scientists and science journals are calling for the exploration of Mars and Jupiter, with every reason to believe that life and the persistence of it is thriving outside our own terrestrial sphere? If you cannot get past this, then I suggest that this whole committee be held in contempt for ignoring evidence that cannot be refuted.”<br/>	Mulder was right. People don’t want to believe that life can be anywhere else but here. Those two really gave the Syndicate a run for their money getting people to believe. <br/>	“They did but evidence never lasted for them. Smokey and Senator Sorenson had the evidence, the files. They tossed them after looking at it.”<br/>	Not surprised. I was back in Russia. I went to pay Peskow a visit at his place. He didn’t know I was there or so I thought.<br/>	“Please, if you are here to ask another favor…I am retired…Comrade Krycek.”<br/>	“I am only here, comrade to congratulate you on a fine job.”<br/>	“Can I ask you a question?”<br/>	Of course. Since when do you ask?<br/>	“Alexi, I ask because it’s personal.”<br/>	You’re my wife. What do you want to ask me that could possibly bother me?<br/>	“It’s about your arm. I know… I know that you don’t like talking about it, about what happened.”<br/>	Marita, they took a big ass knife and cut my arm off. Nothing else to it.<br/>	“That’s what I mean. There’s more to it then that. When you went to Peskow, did you have a prosthetic?”<br/>	That’s what you want to know?<br/>	“I want to know it all. You were the one that started this tale of your life because no one knows you. This is part of your story.”<br/>	You’re right. If you want to know, I’ll tell you.<br/>	“I would. Thank you. I understand how hard this is for you to talk about.”<br/>	The answer to your first question was yes. I did have one. It wasn’t a great one. I couldn’t do anything with it. I think it was what the locals who got one used. I was ok with it. I guess. <br/>	The first day, after I just slept. I think they drugged me so I wouldn’t feel anything. When I did wake, I was pissed, confused, you name it I was it. I only stayed a few days at most. I had to meet my guy. It was probably not the best idea to travel. Later, after I left his place and headed to my hotel, I started to feel sick. I started sweating and shaking. I got back to my room and passed out on the bed.<br/>	I woke up, I guess the next day sometime feeling like complete shit. My shirt was soaked with sweat. I couldn’t stop shaking but I managed to get to the bathroom. I was soo pale and weak. I had never felt that sick before. I stood in the shower with my clothes on and just turned on the water on hot but couldn’t stop shaking. <br/>	“You most likely had a fever.”<br/>	I figured I did after a while. I had no energy or strength to eat or drink. All I did was shake. I wanted to be alone but after two days of it, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had no one to help me though. I didn’t know what to do.<br/>	“You needed to get to a doctor. Why didn’t you call me?”<br/>	I couldn’t just call you. We hadn’t spoken since I left. I couldn’t just call you for help. You wouldn’t have come. <br/>	“I would have.”<br/>	Why would you have?<br/>	“Because I loved you. That’s why.”<br/>	You what?<br/>	“I loved you. Even then, I knew. Yes, we had sex but I felt something. If you called, I would’ve been there.”<br/>	Really? You really would’ve come to help me because you loved me? <br/>	“Yes.”<br/>	What about Spender? That would not have gone over well if he found out you went to help me.<br/>	“I wasn’t in that deep yet. I had my ways of getting out of the country without him knowing. He didn’t own me.”<br/>	Wow, I’m such an ass. Anyway, by the second day of that, I was in bad shape. I tried getting to the store for meds but I never made it. I ended up passing out down the street from the hotel. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital. I was on fluids and I guess medication. A nurse said I was brought in three days before. <br/>	“You were out for three days?”<br/>	Yeah. Apparently, I had a high fever and bad infection. She said I was in pretty bad shape.<br/>	“How long were you there for?”<br/>	A week. I wanted out. I couldn’t stay any longer. I had no means of paying for it. I couldn’t exactly get my money from any account and pay a large bill. if I withdrew that much cash it would draw attention. I agreed to come back in for a recheck but I didn’t.<br/>	“You skipped out on you recheck?”<br/>	Yeah. Wasn’t too smart. I took the medication with no problems but trying to keep it clean with one arm wasn’t easy. I only did it for a day or two and gave up. I just stayed inside. I had no desire to leave or let anyone see me that way. <br/>	“You were embarrassed by it?”<br/>	Yeah. I knew no one would look at me the same and no one would work with me. I was a one-armed killer. I was nothing.<br/>	“You were not nothing. You were tortured, Alexi. You lost your arm in a horrific way. You were just a bit confused and angry.”<br/>	I was fucking pissed. I had nothing. <br/>	“Alexi. You cannot believe you had nothing.”<br/>	What the hell did I have? I had no job, no respect. I had nothing.<br/>	“You had me.”<br/>	No, I didn’t. I left you behind. I didn’t have you. I was alone in Russia. Everyone assumed I was dead. I would’ve been better off.<br/>	“Alexi Nikolai Krycek, you cut that shit out right now. Look at me. You were not alone. I cared about you. All you had to do was pick up the damn phone. You, my dear were wanted and not by Spender or the goons. You had a lot to offer the world.”<br/>	I’m glad you think so. I didn’t then.<br/>	“Do you now?”<br/>	I still don’t think I have a lot to offer but I do think I have some worth. I have the kids and you. Then, I just thought I was a gun for hire. A guy that can sell secrets to the highest bidder and to screw over that scum bag Spender. <br/>	“I don’t know if I will ever understand why you were so hard on yourself back then or now for that matter. I know you told me about your family and all that but you had options once Spender tried to kill you. You could’ve left and started over.”<br/>	I know but after that, I wanted revenge. The man destroyed my life. I lost everything. And besides I wouldn’t have met you.<br/>	“No excuses Alexi. You made the choices. No one else but you. Now, what happened next?”<br/>	I stayed in the room for a few more days. I finished the meds but still didn’t feel like myself at all. I was weak. I couldn’t do much. I needed my arm. I had to find a new one. <br/>	I went under ground and searched. I was a rat after all. I still wasn’t feeling well though. I know I went through hell but it was horrible. Every time I ate, I felt sick.”<br/>	“Your infection most likely wasn’t gone. It probably spread.”<br/>	It did. I was underground and got real sick. One night, a bunch of us rats were drinking in this shit hole we were squatting in. I really didn’t drink too much but felt like I did. This one guy told me I looked like hell. I felt it too but brushed it off and went to sleep.<br/>	I woke up a few hours later, with really bad stomach pains. I couldn’t move. It took all I had to roll myself over so I could vomit over the side of the bed. One of the guys must’ve put a can next to the bed because it was there. I was soo sick. I couldn’t keep anything down. It got to the point that the guys dropped me off at some clinic to get fluids. I did have an infection and was given fluids and medication. The doctors that treated me thought they were going to have to take the rest of my arm or more of it.<br/>	“Why?”<br/>	The infection spread up into the tissue more. I was basically dying. I was pretty out of it. Once day I’m in some crappy little hospital, the next I’m in St. Petersburg being treated by the best.<br/>	“You have no idea how you got there?”<br/>	No. No one told me anything either. Believe me I tried. I even was getting a new arm too.  Marita, what do you know? You know something. I can tell.<br/>	“I knew you were sick. The last time.”<br/>	How? Who told you?<br/>	“I had a source out there that contacted me when you were at the clinic. He knew about the locals and the arms. When he saw you, he knew you had it done to you. You needed to get out of there and into a real hospital.”<br/>	No kidding. How did you do it?<br/>	“It wasn’t easy. I didn’t want Spender to find out. You were believed to be dead. If he knew you were alive, you wouldn’t be for long. I knew a few people that could get you to the hospital unnoticed. I transferred some funds to them and had you moved.”<br/>	How did you know it was me though?<br/>	“My contact started to describe you. He mentioned a scar on the neck. You have one from the shrapnel of the car bomb. You had no ID on you but I knew it was you by the way he described you. Once you were transferred, I asked to be in the know.”<br/>	You really did care about me back then. I had no idea. <br/>	“You are a blind man sometimes. Of course, I did. I didn’t realize how much at first. It wasn’t until I got an email from one of the doctors that I figured out how much I cared and loved you.”<br/>	What was in the email?<br/>	“It was an update on your condition. Details of your injury as well as some pictures. The first was of your face. I remember tears coming to my eyes at the sight of you. It brought back a flood of emotions I wasn’t prepared for.”<br/>	You said that was the first picture. How many were there?<br/>	“A few more were attached.”<br/>	Marita? They weren’t of my face, were they?<br/>	“No. I’m sorry, Alexi. The doctor sent pictures of you and your arm when you arrived there.”<br/>	Damn. Marita, I never wanted you to see that.<br/>	“I know you didn’t. Alexi I didn’t know they were there. It was just to be a photo of your face. I am soo sorry that you went through all that. I saw the pictures and I lost it. I couldn’t believe you went through that. You looked soo frail. I….the tears were down my face before I even knew it. I wanted to go to you; to help you. I was soo scared you wouldn’t survive that.”<br/>	Why didn’t you? Besides from Spender finding out. You sent me there to get help, to get better. You knew it was me. <br/>	“I couldn’t, Alexi. I couldn’t. God, I wanted to. I loved you soo much. I was too afraid. I couldn’t lose you.”<br/>	Marita, we hadn’t had much time together but I knew you were special. I didn’t want you to see me like that but if you came, I wouldn’t have turned you away. I was alone.<br/>	“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be there if you were to die. I couldn’t handle that. I was in no shape to handle it.”<br/>	Why? You are such a strong person.<br/>	“I was pregnant. That’s why.”<br/>	What? You were pregnant?<br/>	“Yes.”<br/>	Marita, was that baby mine?<br/>	“Yes.”<br/>	You said ‘were’. What happened?<br/>	“I woke up a few days after I got the pictures not feeling well. I thought it was just the morning sickness but it wasn’t. I started getting pains in my stomach. I started spotting about an hour after I woke up. It got worse withing a few hours. I knew what was happening. I just sat in the bathtub as it happened. I spent the next two days in bed.”<br/>	God, Marita. Why didn’t you tell me before now?<br/>	“I was scared. We hadn’t seen each other in a while. You were fighting for your life. Up until then I didn’t know where you were. I … I didn’t know how to tell you even if I knew where you were. I didn’t think you’d be happy about it. Look where we were at the time.”<br/>	I… it wasn’t a great time but Marita a baby would have changed everything.<br/>	“Spender would’ve figured it out though. It would’ve been hell for us. I would’ve left the country to protect us. But, it wasn’t meant to be. I just put it behind me and focus. I just had to make sure you were well.”<br/>	We would’ve figured it out. I still can’t believe you paid for all that treatment and rehab. That had to cost a fortune. I still don’t know much of what happened for a while.<br/>	“You were out of it for days before you started recovering. About two weeks after, they took you into surgery to repair the damage.”<br/>	I remember that vaguely. I was in a shit ton of pain when I woke up though. I was bandaged up the whole arm. Some beast of a nurse took care of me. The doctor was nice though. I remember him coming in to tell me what was next. After a few days, I’d begin PT then be fitted with a new arm then more PT.<br/>	“Right. I heard at first you didn’t cooperate with PT but then you got into it.”<br/>	Yeah, well I don’t trust easily as you well know nor do I like taking orders from others. It took time but I’ve never been afraid of hard work. I busted my ass to get better.<br/>	“And after a month you bolted. I got word that you left.”<br/>	I had enough. I could function again. I was starting to feel like a caged animal. I learned how to handle it and all so I saw no point in staying. Why didn’t they tell me who was paying for it all? I asked several times.<br/>	“I told them not to. I didn’t want you to know. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it. My only concern was just you getting well.”<br/>	Thank you. For everything, Marita. I mean it. You saved my life. Twice at that point already.<br/>	“You’re welcome. Where did you go when you left?”<br/>	Kazakhstan.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I had that thought for Marita to be pregnant. It gave a little depth to their characters in my mind. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Hopefully I did not offend anyone with the Marita line. I mean no ill will or anything.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10: Things get interesting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Kazakhstan? Why on Earth would you go there?”<br/>	Yeah. After what happened, I needed to know more. I figured out enough in the syndicate that they were searching for a cure to the black oil before the Russians did. I wanted to get to everything first. I still had some contacts so I went to work. Marita, I had to do it to make some sense out of what happened to me. I lost my arm to what? Protect me from the tests? I was already exposed to it. It was inside me. <br/>	We all knew about the tests to find a vaccine. They were mining and whatever. I found my way into a group that was doing all this. It helps when you speak Russian. I had them good. Before long, I was in charge of a group. They trusted me. Everything was going soo well too. Until that night.<br/>	There were two young boys in the woods. They saw lights in the sky. They also so happened to see a man on fire. They started running after they saw us. One of the boys was caught be me. The other, the aliens got him. <br/>	“What is your name?”<br/>	“Dmitri.”<br/>	“You saw what happened here?”<br/>	“Da!.”<br/>	“Too bad for you.”<br/>	“That was where you were when I arrived. You were with the boy.”<br/>	Most likely. Couldn’t let him get away. He knew too much.<br/>	“I was shocked by what I saw when I arrived. There were cars all burned beyond repair and the bodies. I found someone’s broken glasses. I had never seen anything like that scene before. One of the men with me said it right.”<br/>	“It’s… it’s like the flesh is cooked all the way through.”<br/>	Pretty much sums it up. It was not a pretty sight at all.<br/>	“No, it wasn’t. Then you showed up.”<br/>	Correct. Did you know it was me?<br/>	“No. Not at first. As soon as I heard your voice, I knew I was in for it. I was going to have to play it cool. No one could know we knew each other. Not the way we did, especially.”<br/>	“You there? Under what authority are you corrupting this crime scene?”<br/>	“Under the United Nations Charter, chapter 7, articles 39 and 42…”<br/>	You were soo professional and right to the point. I remember laughing at you.<br/>	“That was not very funny but you needed to do it. I understand that.”<br/>	“Your authority isn’t recognized here. Only your lies.”<br/>	“These are UN peacekeepers. This is a mission of mercy.”<br/>	“This is a mission of fear. Yours and the men you work for.”<br/>	“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”<br/>	“You go back and you tell them what you’ve seen here what you’ve found.”<br/>	“My name is Marita Covarrubias. I am a Special Representative to the Secretary General of the United Nations.”<br/>	“I know who you are, I know who you work for. Now, you go back and you tell them…”<br/>	“Tell them what? What happened here?”<br/>	“Tell them, it’s all going to hell.”<br/>	“That was shocking news. It was a bit freighting. You sent the boy away after that.”<br/>	Yes, that boy was my ticket.<br/>	“Does the boy know?”<br/>	I turned my back on you. That was hard to do. I didn’t want to but I had no choice.<br/>	“We had to keep cover.”<br/>	“Did he see?”<br/>	“You tell them to kiss my American ass.”<br/>	I spit on the ground in front of you and walked away.<br/>	“That was disgusting, by the way. I know it was meant for them not me. I guess I never realized how much you hated them. I will admit, I was pissed at you for that. You were taking or addressing your anger at me and it wasn’t part of any act.”<br/>	I’m sorry, honey. Those guys just piss me off. You know that.<br/>	“I know. They tried to kill you. Twice.”<br/>	I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that. Right?<br/>	“Of course, I do. Back then I was, well confused. That was the first time I saw you since you left and since the baby. It was a shock to my whole self. I never felt what I felt for you before and I guess it came back when I saw you.”<br/>	It came back for me too. I didn’t know what we were or would be. Hell, I wanted something for us but neither of us were in a good spot at the time. It hurt to hurt you but I knew you’d understand. I hoped you did. <br/>	“I did. Did you know Cassandra was sensing all these things? She told Mulder and Scully that a war was coming and the whole bit. She sounded crazy.”<br/>	She wasn’t but they didn’t know that. And I’m sure Jeffrey made it sound like she was.<br/>	“Of course, he did. He never wanted anyone to know about her. He just kept her in that place hidden from view. He was embarrassed by his own mother.”<br/>	He was a joy. I’ll get to that bit later. I need to continue the story. I had the boy in a gulag. I need to know what he knew. He was not going to tell me that was for sure. I got it though.<br/>	“Alexei, what did you do? I can tell by the look on your face that you did something you are not proud of.”<br/>	I… I hit him. Several times actually. Can’t say I’m proud of myself. I hated myself. That was the first and only time that I hit a kid. Anyway, I was in the cell when a doctor and guard showed up. I informed him that the boy told me what I needed to know. I gave him new orders to take care of the boy. <br/>	“Meaning?”<br/>	“The boy has told me what I need to know, you may begin.”<br/>	“But he is just a boy. We do our experiments only on the criminal.”<br/>	“Do you argue with me?”<br/>	“I have orders.”<br/>	“And now you have new orders.”<br/>	I walked out allowing the doctor into the boy. Stupid doc left a tray in the hall with his things on it. I took a vial from it and pocketed. Ultimately the boy was exposed to the black oil. The guards were not thrilled with that at all. The tests were never done on children. I let them. Hell, I told them to take and use the kid. What kind of person does that to a child? Don’t answer that. I already know.<br/>	“What happened then?”<br/>	I took the boy and left. I was on the UROFF- Koltoff Star of Russia. We left from Vladivostok. The kid was in a cell kind of room. I wasn’t letting anything happen to him. <br/>	“I’ve brought you water. If you can hear me, I need you to nod your head.”<br/>	He had his lips, eyes, ears and nose sewn shut. The virus could not get out. It had to stay in him.<br/>	“I’m going to take good care of you.”<br/>	I used a wet towel as a sponge to get him some water. Where were you during all this? I hadn’t seen you since the site. I mean we had the little eye conversation but that was it.<br/>	“I was back at work. I had to report in on what happened.”<br/>	“Whatever happened in Kazakhstan, there was no one left to give an accurate account.”<br/>	“How many bodies were there?”<br/>	“41. All burned beyond recognition. The result of some kind of intense biochemical reaction none of the U.N. medics had ever seen. Not in the Gulf or in any battlefield. The corpses were literally carbonized from the heat.”<br/>	“A new weapon being tested?”<br/>	“There’s no intelligence on that.”<br/>	“There’s no clear data on the victims or their relationship, but I found at least two of these among the dead.”<br/>	What did you find?<br/>	“Implants.”<br/>	“I think it’s fairly certain that all the victims had them. That what was taking place was a staging for a group abduction.”<br/>	“What the hell is that?”<br/>	“In the final phases before it begins, there will most likely be assemblies.”<br/>	“We’re years away from that.”<br/>	“If we’re to believe the timetable.”<br/>	“Unless it’s already begun.”<br/>	“We’re 15 years away.”<br/>	“I don’t think this was planned. I think something or someone set it in motion. An act of war against us and our plans. Krycek was at the burn site with a unit of Russian soldiers.”<br/>	“Alex Krycek did this?”<br/>	“He was there, probably acting on the same data we got. Whether he had any direct involvement in what happened, he knows what caused it.”<br/>	Did you really think I caused that?<br/>	“Of course not. You were a bastard back then but even you at your worst wouldn’t have done that to anyone. You had a heart deep down inside.”<br/>	Thank you. I think. Continue. <br/>	“Knows how?”<br/>	“He captured a boy at the site, a survivor. Someone who saw.”<br/>	“What does Krycek want?”<br/>	“I don’t know.”<br/>	“How do we find out?”<br/>	They really had no clue, did they?<br/>	“About? Our connection? No. They had no intel or reason to think we knew each other. No one knew what you wanted, Alexei. Anyway, that’s when the phone rang.”<br/>	“Yes?”<br/>	“Well, look who’s answering the bat phone.”<br/>	“Alex Krycek.”<br/>	“Those guys to cheap to offer you a pension plan?”<br/>	“Where are you?”<br/>	“I’m in town actually. New York City.”<br/>	“Just tell us what you want.”<br/>	“You’ve been working on a vaccine against the black oil.”<br/>	“Unsuccessfully, you know.”<br/>	“Yeah, well I figured you and your buddies must have been busy while I’ve been gone.”<br/>	“Our research continues.”<br/>	“I’ll take everything you’ve got.”<br/>	“In exchange for?”<br/>	“The boy.”<br/>	“Why is that in our interest?”<br/>	“Because without what he knows, you ain’t going to need any vaccine.”<br/>	“What does he know?”<br/>	“That’s my opening offer. The longer you wait the skinner this kid gets.”<br/>	They were not happy with me.<br/>	“No, they weren’t. I was worried. I didn’t know caused that site but I did know one thing.”<br/>	What was that?<br/>	“That you were serious about what you said. You had a look in your eyes when I saw you that I had not seen in a long time.”<br/>	What look was that? I had a few back then.<br/>	“You had a look of complete anger. Revenge.”<br/>	Because I was. I wanted them to pay.  They cheated me like shit and it was my turn to make them feel it.<br/>	“I know. And I understand they need for revenge.”<br/>	I know you do. I think we all do. What was going on outside the city? <br/>	“Jeffrey trying to hide Cassandra. Protect her. He didn’t believe a word she said and neither did Mulder. He was having a crisis of beliefs at the time. It was sad actually. I do believe Scully was more sure of Cassandra.”<br/>	That’s a switch for ya. Mulder believes everything. It’s soo weird that Scully did though. <br/>	“It might have had something to do with the chip in her neck. The one our good old smoking friend gave Mulder to cure her cancer. I don’t think he thought it would lead to what it did though. Skyland Mountain had never been busier. I was with them when the story broke.<br/>	“This is the same scene we saw in Kazakhstan.”<br/>	“What the hell is going on? This is our own backyard.”<br/>	“This is no good. I don’t like being kept in the dark on this.”<br/>	“Someone’s going to great lengths to sabotage our work.”<br/>	“Who?”<br/>	“One way or another, we’d better find out before it’s determined we’re unable to handle this ourselves to put a stop to it before the colonists intervene.”<br/>	“The British guy dismissed one of the goons from the meeting. It amazes me the things they do for him. I now know he went to Cassandra. You were still on the ship.”<br/>	We do everything and anything for them to stay alive and get ahead. I was still on the ship as you well know. I was trying to get the boy water with the use of a sponge, I think. I didn’t want him to die. When I walked out of that room, I was surprised to see you standing there. Can’t sat say that I wasn’t happy inside.<br/>	“You think you can pull this off. Don’t you?”<br/>	I remember walking right to you, pushing you against the wall and kissing you. It had been too long since I felt your lips on mine. We were making out against a dirty ass wall like a bunch of horny kids. I didn’t even realize it until I saw you there how much I missed it.<br/>	“They give me what I want. I’m going to rule the world.”<br/>“We’ve got them on their knees, Alex.”<br/>“Yeah?”<br/>“Let’s get out of this hall.”<br/>You were very interested in getting out of the hallway and somewhere private.<br/>“Well, I was interested in taking things further then we were and wasn’t about to do so in the hallway of a ship.”<br/>What made you think, I’d go along with it? We hadn’t been together since I left. A lot had happened in that time.”<br/>“I’m aware of all that. I knew you would. I could tell you were just as interested as I was. You were, let’s just say showing me you were more than willing to follow.”<br/>You noticed that? <br/>“Of course. You forget, my dear I was with you before.”<br/>Yeah. I didn’t forget. It was a great time though. Just wish we weren’t on a ship in the middle of New York port. I never forgot those moments. When shit got real, I’d think about those moments. During my recovery and such.<br/>“We did enjoy each others company and I’m not just talking about in the bedroom either.”<br/>I agree. I was however, not expecting what I encountered when I finally returned to that hallway. The boy was gone and the Brit was there waiting for me. He wanted the boy. You told them about the boy.<br/>“I’m sorry. I did. I had a job to do. To protect myself, us.”<br/>I know. Where did you go? What happened?<br/>“I took the boy and headed out. I…I reached out to Agent Mulder.”<br/>“Mulder.”<br/>“Agent Mulder.”<br/>“Yes.”<br/>“This is Marita Covarrubias. Is this a secure line we’re on?”<br/>“Yes.”<br/>“You were at Skyland Mountain. Are you aware of a U.N. report on a similar in the former Soviet Union?”<br/>“No.”<br/>“I was in Kazakhstan. There is a connection. I have someone who knows it. I have him with me now.”<br/>“Where are you?”<br/>“At a payphone on Skodal Road, just off the I-90. Come here, wait for my call for directions.”<br/>“The boy undid his stitches. The ones over his eyes. The oil was dripping from his eyes. It was horrible. I knew I made a mistake at that moment. I found out though that Mulder did show up at the phone booth but found nothing but the oil.”<br/>I’m sorry, Marita. None of that should have happened. While that was happening to you, Ruskin Damn was having it’s on issues. The sight of the third attack. <br/>“Was it worse?”<br/>I don’t know if worse is the way I’d describe it. It was a mess. The event was in such a public place and had some powerful people involved. Cassandra and Scully which got Skinner involved.<br/>“Agent Mulder?”<br/>“Was she here? Is she here?”<br/>“Yes, and the medics are all over her.”<br/>“She’s alive?”<br/>“They’re working on her now. Come on. An S.A.R. chopper pilot found her huddled in the woods this morning with about 50 other survivors. She has minor burns, but her fluids and electrolytes were abnormally depleted.”<br/>Scully ended up being transported to a hospital in Vasogenic shock.<br/>“What happened here, Agent Mulder?”<br/>“The answer just got loaded in that chopper.”<br/>Good old Jeffrey Spender ended up showing up looking for his mother. There was no sign of Cassandra but then again there were multiple dead bodies that needed to be identified.<br/>“Of course. This happens and I’m well…”<br/>“I’m fairly certain it’s not a question of dosage. We’ve administered three intramuscular injections over the past 20hrs since we found her on the roadside.”<br/>“And you’ve seen no effect?”<br/>“No. It doesn’t look good, at all.”<br/>“I was hooked up to monitors and a breathing tube. I was infected with the black oil. I was in that observation room with the view from above where they watched the doctor treat me. they were pretty unhappy about my condition. I’m not sure if it was due to it being me or the vaccine not working. I’m thinking the vaccine.”<br/>It most likely was the vaccine they were worried about. They were determined to beat the Russians. It was their main thing and don’t forget Old Smokie wasn’t around calling the shots. <br/>Meanwhile, Scully was at Memorial Hospital. She had no memory of what happened. It clearly scared her. <br/>	“From what?”<br/>	“You don’t remember?”<br/>	“Mulder…”<br/>	“Is any of this coming back to you?”<br/>	Scully had the news on so she saw the reports out of Ruskin. That was not something she was prepared to see.<br/>	“I was there? Well, doing what?”<br/>	“I was hoping you were going to answer that question for me.”<br/>	“Where were you during all that? And how did you know all this?”<br/>	I have my ways. I was on that damn ship in the harbor. I was cuffed to something in a room. It was dark and warm and I hate being cuffed.<br/>	“You’re probably thirsty.”<br/>	“Remind me to complain to the captain about the service.”<br/>	“You may have that opportunity. This ship is bound back to Vladivostok tomorrow. I gather there’ll be quite an enthusiastic homecoming.”<br/>	“Do you have the boy?”<br/>	“No. Ms. Covarrubias took him. Your alliance with her was as misguided as ours but appears she was unaware of the consequences of her deception. You were clever. Infect the boy to ensure infection of anyone who tried to learn what he knows who would cheat you.”<br/>	“Who figured it out? Who was holding you there?”<br/>	The Brit. He figured out we were working together. I don’t think he knew the rest.<br/>	“You mean our…relationship?”<br/>	Yeah. Marita, you were never supposed to be the one infected. You have to understand that. Having him know about our connections was never part of the plain either.<br/>	“I know. I never blamed you for any of what happened. I made the choice to do what I did.”<br/>	Thank you. I still take it on myself but I will continue my story. I will say, that Brit is a tough bastard.<br/>	“Then where’s the boy?”<br/>	“Dead. Victim of another mysterious holocaust, unable now to tell what he knew or saw.”<br/>	“Then you got no choice but to deal with me.”<br/>	“I’m afraid there’s no deal to be made.”<br/>	“I’m the only one who knows what those incidents are, what they mean. I know what the boy saw.”<br/>	“You know nothing.”<br/>	“If the boy was your trump card, why infect him unless you could also cure him with a vaccine developed by the Russians, one that works? It would mean that resistance to the alien colonists was possible.”<br/>	“You’re dreaming.”<br/>	“Do you have the vaccine?”<br/>	“You need what I know.”<br/>	“Do you have the vaccine?!”<br/>	He kicked the water bucket he was giving me water from. He was going to leave me like that. Didn’t realize what a bastard he could be at times.<br/>	“Give you the means to save Covarrubias after what she did?”<br/>	“The means to save yourself.”<br/>	I was in a bind. I never wanted to be in the spot I was in, you were in.<br/>	 “Alexei, did you do what I think you did?”<br/>	You already know the answer to that. You’re here aren’t you?<br/>	“Alexei, I don’t know what to say? You sold your soul to them. That’s how you got back into their good graces. I was wondering about that. Vy spasli moyu zhizn’. Blagodaryu vas.”<br/>	Welcome. Marita, I couldn’t let you die not because of me. After everything you did for me that I knew of, I had to do something. You were the only person to give a shit about me. You were my friend. My own family wouldn’t have rescued me from that silo let alone comfort me during the nightmares. I think my feelings for you spoke up at that moment. I also didn’t want to die either.<br/>	“Aww, honey. You owe me nothing. I did what I did because I cared. I heard some about you and well I had to know who this tall, dark and handsome man was. What you said, I…. I don’t know what to say. Ty milyy chelovek.”<br/>	Just me. Anyway, Mulder went to see Scully again at the hospital. She was feeling better but…<br/>	“I don’t know what to say. I mean, I..I don’t have the first clue. There’s nothing here.”<br/>	“Well, at least you’re not alone. None of the other survivors have been able to give a cogent account, either.”<br/>	“Mulder, I have never been here. I couldn’t tell you how to get here, let alone drive it.”<br/>	“Do you remember when you last saw Cassandra Spender?”<br/>	“She was there too?”<br/>	“I ran more x-rays. I haven’t told anybody yet what I found though.”<br/>	“You found more implants?”<br/>	“That would explain how you were directed to a site and why you can’t remember. Would explain the sensation Cassandra Spender was describing her abduction fantasies. It would explain Skyland Mountain.”<br/>	“Yeah but it wouldn’t explain why they would want to kill me. And it doesn’t explain why I survived.”<br/>	“All comes down to a question, Scully, one that hasn’t been answered or….I don’t even think honestly addressed: Who made that chip in your neck? That chip was found in a military research facility. Our government made that chip, implanted it in your neck as part of a secret military project to develop a biochemical weapon to monitor your immunity, or to destroy you like a lab rat if the truth were to be exposed. And your cancer…your cure…everything that is happening to you now…it all points to that chip. The truth I’ve been searching for? That truth is in you.”<br/>	“Mulder had that right idea. He knew more then he thought. He was on the right trail. That’s why they feared him and wanted him gone but kept him around. I take it Scully didn’t believe all of this.”<br/>	Not entirely. She needed more proof. She did some regression therapy and recalled what happened at Ruskin Dam. She saw the aliens setting them on fire as well as the ships.<br/>	“I can’t imagine seeing that and living through it. that had to be horrible.”<br/>	It was. We saw the aftermath. Scully is a very strong woman.<br/>	“Alexei what happened with you and the British man?”<br/>	I made him release me first and he followed me to my room where I had the vaccine hidden. I had to trust him. Out of all of the members, he was probably the most trustworthy of them all. After he had the vaccine, he took me with him. We drove to some apartment he owned where I was able to shower and change before he gave me some work to do. He took the vaccine and left. He wanted it in you as soon as possible. <br/>	“Did you go with him? Were you there when they gave me the vaccine? Did he even show you where I was? As proof of what he said?”<br/>	I didn’t. I…I wanted to be there, to see you. I wanted to be there when you opened your eyes, be the first thing you saw but I couldn’t. I didn’t want them to know. We didn’t even know what we were. The last thing we needed was using that against us too. Plus…I…<br/>	“What? Tell me.”<br/>	I was scared. If the vaccine didn’t work, you’d likely die. If it did work, you’d wake up to me. I didn’t know how to handle that. How’d you handle seeing me? As Mulder always said, I was a coward. If I could take it back, I would’ve been there to see you get the vaccine. <br/>	“I have no doubt that you would’ve been there. Did you know what happened though?”<br/>	Yeah. I found out. I had to. I had to know that what I did was worth it. There was more going on. A rebel was captured at a military base. The heavy one brought this to the attention of the others.<br/>	“The facial scarrings appear to be self-mutilation done as protection.”<br/>	“Protection against what?”<br/>	“Infection by the black oil. He was the lone survivor of a crashed spacecraft at a military base in West Virginia.”<br/>	“What the hell is he?”<br/>	“An alien rebel. This is what the boy in Russia saw. The last face the dead saw at Skyland Mountain and most surely who killed our man at the dam in Pennsylvania. He’s a resistance fighter against the alien colonist. This is what Alex Krycek knew—that a war had begun.”<br/>	“What good was keeping that knowledge? Without the vaccine against the black oil, no one can survive.”<br/>	“We have a vaccine-developed by the Russians, stole by <br/>Krycek, given to me.”	<br/>	That’s the vaccine they gave you. There was still doubt between them that it would work. Don’t think they trusted me too much.<br/>	“You see what this means? Resistance is possible. We have the weapons and the magic in hand.”<br/>	“We don’t know the vaccine works yet.”<br/>	“It will. And if it doesn’t, we have a new alliance to be made.”<br/>	“Side with the resistance?”<br/>	“Suicide.”<br/>	“They’ll squash us as they do them. We must turn the rebel over.”<br/>	“But first, wait till we know the vaccine works.”<br/>	“The vaccine has no effect.”<br/>	“We must give it time.”<br/>	“We must survive first. Survival means collaboration.”<br/>	“Turn over the alien rebel, and you turn over any chance of resistance.”<br/>	“It’s already been done.”<br/>	He was not happy about that at all. Brit was sure the vaccine would work. It was working. They could tell it was.<br/>	“Well, I’m here so it worked. They didn’t have the sense of time. Where were you if you weren’t there?”<br/>	Had to see an old friend.<br/>	“Mulder?”<br/>	Of course. I had been feeding him information for years. He needed that info. He was in a cross roads between believing it was military and not alien. I had to tell him what I knew.<br/>	His place was dark when I got there. Made it easier. I left him a little note that read ‘Things are looking up’ on it. He wasn’t paying attention when he walked in. I got the drop on him. Got his gun in his face in no time.<br/>	“You must be losing it, Mulder. I could beat you with one hand.”	<br/>	“Isn’t that how you like to beat yourself?”<br/>	“He really said that?”<br/>	Oh yeah. I just cocked the gun in his face to let him know I wasn’t happy about that.<br/>	“If those are my last words, I can do better.”<br/>	“I’m not here to kill you, Mulder. I’m here to help you.”<br/>	“Hey thanks.”<br/>	“You know if it wasn’t in my best interest, I would just as soon squeeze the trigger.”<br/>	“Well, what’s stopping you?”<br/>	“Hear this, Agent Mulder. Listen very carefully, because what I’m telling you is deadly serious. There is a war raging, and unless you pull your head out of the sand, you and I and about five billion other people are going to go the way of the dinosaur. I’m talking about planned invasion. The colonization of this planet by an extraterrestrial race.”<br/>	The bastard laughed at me. He really thought I was just joking around.<br/>	“I thought you were serious.”<br/>	“Kazakhstan, Skyland Mountain, the site in Pennsylvania- they’re all alien lighthouses where the colonization will begin. But where now, a battle’s being waged. A struggle for Heaven and Earth. Where there is one law: fight or die. And one rule: resist or serve.”<br/>	“Serve who?”<br/>	“No, not who…what.”<br/>	“Keycek, you’re a murder, a liar and a coward. Just because you stick a gun in my chest, I’m supposed to believe you’re my friend?”<br/>	“Get up. I was sent by a man…a man who knows as I do, the resistance is in our grasp. And in yours. The mass incinerations were strikes by an alien rebellion to upset plans for occupation. Now, one of these rebels is being held captive. And if he dies, so does the resistance.”<br/>	I gave him a kiss on the cheek and gave him his gun back. Before walking out, I had one more thing to say to him.<br/>	“Good luck to you my friend.”<br/>	“Did he take your advice?”<br/>	I gave him the address on the back of the note. The two did go and try to rescue the rebel but were detained at the gate. Mulder managed to get on to the truck carrying him. The bounty hunter was there and some lights then the rebel was gone. <br/>	I did find out that you were doing better. The vaccine was working. Knowing you were going to be ok or at least have a fighting chance made it worth it. That and seeing that Cassandra Spender was now an X-File case. I knew it was going to get interesting.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Vy spasli moyu zhizn- you saved my life<br/>Blagodaryu vas- thank you<br/>Ty milyy chelovek- you are a sweet man<br/>translations are from google so if they are wrong I'm sorry</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is completely out of my normal zone of writing I had this idea to write about Alex. All the Russian food was researched to make it as true as possible.  Hope you enjoy it and give it a chance. Comments welcomed<br/>I write on here AO3 for fun and for free. Please do not pay to read my works anywhere. This is the only place I post my works. If they are posted anywhere else, they do not have my permission to do so.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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